Supreme Court Clears Deck For Colaba Jetty
By Gajanan Khergamker
In a verdict that all but silences the last voices of resistance echoing from the colonial corridors of Colaba, the Supreme Court today - September 1, 2025 - shut the door on legal challenges to the controversial Rs 229-crore Gateway Jetty project, dismissing three clubbed Special Leave Petitions filed by aggrieved residents and activists.
The apex bench, led by Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran, refused to entertain the pleas, letting stand the Bombay High Court’s July 15 ruling that had already brushed aside the objections with an air of finality that hinted more at pragmatism than nostalgia.
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| The jetty, once operational, will link the Gateway of India to Alibaug, Elephanta and beyond |
And just like that, the final gavel fell—not with a bang, but with a pointed refusal—clearing the way for the Maharashtra Maritime Board to accelerate construction on what has become one of Mumbai’s most polarising urban projects.
Behind the black-lettered filings were the names of petitioners who had become familiar in the waterfront’s drawn-out courtroom theatre - Laura D’Souza, Shabnam Minwalla, and members of the Clean and Heritage Colaba Residents Association, voices that had risen not in protest for protest’s sake, but with a quiet conviction that the city’s soul was being bargained off in cement and chrome.
Behind the black-lettered filings were the names of petitioners who had become familiar in the waterfront’s drawn-out courtroom theatre - Laura D’Souza, Shabnam Minwalla, and members of the Clean and Heritage Colaba Residents Association, voices that had risen not in protest for protest’s sake, but with a quiet conviction that the city’s soul was being bargained off in cement and chrome.
Alongside them stood Colaba’s fishing communities, weathered by tides but not without fight, and environmentalists who saw in the jetty’s elegant curves the threat of irreversible ecological bruising.
Their case was simple yet emotionally charged: the floating jetty, extending into the sea like a steel-limbed centipede creeping from the historic Radio Club shoreline, would desecrate the sightlines of the Gateway of India, that basalt sentinel etched into national memory.
Their case was simple yet emotionally charged: the floating jetty, extending into the sea like a steel-limbed centipede creeping from the historic Radio Club shoreline, would desecrate the sightlines of the Gateway of India, that basalt sentinel etched into national memory.
That the noise, traffic, and inevitable footfall of commercialisation would turn what was once a solemn seafront into a transit yard. That heritage had no price tag.
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They noted the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority had already cleared the plans. The court leaned heavily into the narrative of public interest, infrastructure necessity, and executive competence, an old and increasingly familiar tune in a city drowning under its own growth.
Still, the petitioners pressed on, urging the apex court to intervene before the post-monsoon lull made way for cranes, barges, and fresh concrete. But in May, during the court’s vacation session, their plea for an urgent stay was brushed off with a telling remark: “Something good is happening.”
Still, the petitioners pressed on, urging the apex court to intervene before the post-monsoon lull made way for cranes, barges, and fresh concrete. But in May, during the court’s vacation session, their plea for an urgent stay was brushed off with a telling remark: “Something good is happening.”
It was a line that captured the state’s bullish pitch and simultaneously wounded the opponents with its perfunctory optimism. When the final hearing resumed, the court declined to intervene—no stay, no reprieve.
The mood in Colaba now is one of hushed resignation, mingled with a flicker of defiance. Many worry the ruling has set a dangerous precedent—that even in heritage precincts, the bulldozer of development moves unchecked. That civic voices, no matter how reasoned, are little match for project reports, feasibility studies, and promises of connectivity.
The mood in Colaba now is one of hushed resignation, mingled with a flicker of defiance. Many worry the ruling has set a dangerous precedent—that even in heritage precincts, the bulldozer of development moves unchecked. That civic voices, no matter how reasoned, are little match for project reports, feasibility studies, and promises of connectivity.
“You don’t preserve heritage by drowning it in glass and steel,” one local resident murmured, the Gateway arch visible in the distance, now destined to share its skyline with the new Jetty.
The jetty, once operational, likely by May 2026 according to Ports Minister Nitesh Rane, will link the Gateway to Alibaug, Elephanta, and beyond. It will serve commuters, tourists, and potentially seaplane operators. And it will do so just some distance from a monument built to welcome emperors and bid farewell to an empire.
Mumbai, as always, stands at a familiar crossroads: past and future colliding at the shoreline. The judiciary has spoken. The machines will return. But in the shaded lanes of Colaba, the conversation lingers—not about what has been lost, but about what’s yet to come.
Mumbai, as always, stands at a familiar crossroads: past and future colliding at the shoreline. The judiciary has spoken. The machines will return. But in the shaded lanes of Colaba, the conversation lingers—not about what has been lost, but about what’s yet to come.
