The incomplete access road to the MV Zhen Don at Bandra. July 1: A developer's proposal to convert a grounded merchant vessel into a floatel off Carter Road in Bandra, is inching its way towards clearance from the state government. Angry residents are opposing the project, which they believe will pollute the waterfront and create unmanageable traffic levels in the area.Senior Tourism Department officials, seeking anonymity told this newspaper that the project had already been cleared by top bureaucrats and politicians. The state government gave the project a nod as far back as October last year, they said.The MV Zhen Don, which ran aground during the last monsoon, was purchased by Raj Pradhan of Rashmi Developers from its Singapore based-owners in October last year. Pradhan wants to convert it into a floatel along the lines of the passenger liner Queen Mary in San Francisco harbour.According to Pradhan, the Zhen Don will be restructured into the country's first ever floatel at a cost of Rs 20 crore. ``Once the project is cleared, we will invite foreign equity participation in the project,'' Pradhan told Express Newsline.The floatel will have restaurants, a bowling alley, health club, vacation accommodation and a skating rink among other facilities.However, this ambitious proposal seem to have cut no ice with the local residents, who have now organised themselves under the banner of the Bandra Residents Association. ``The ship came here only because of a cyclone, let that not be a windfall to some or the residents may begin praying for another cyclone to take the ship away,'' warned Surendra Kaushik, secretary of the association.Adding that the project would not have been allowed to come up here in normal circumstances, he said that the association represented the 150 odd buildings in the area, would oppose any commercial exploitation of the grounded ship.However, Pradhan insists that his floatel project would only add to the beauty of Carter Road without harming the environment. ``The ship is 650 metres away from the high tide line so it doesn't violate the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ),'' he said. The ship would also have a unique full-fledged suspension bridge leading to it, thus eliminating the need for a permanent road. Last month, the residents drew first blood when they got the suburban collector Dr Sanjay Chahande to revoke permission given to Rashmi Developers to build a road leading to the Zhen Don. The residents alleged that Pradhan was building a permanent road across the mangroves in the guise of cleaning the sludge in the ship's holds.The floatel proposal hasn't gone down well with environmentalists either. ``Such projects are floated only to attract funds and never really take off,'' says Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) giving the example of the proposed seven star floatel off Cuffe Parade.Coast Guard officials said that they had given a provisional clearance to the project provided it did not pose an environmental threat to the sea front.
