At the Gateway of India, where fleets of passenger boats offer tours of the temple island of Elephanta, transport to Mandwa across the water on the mainland, and chakkars (rounds) of Mumbai harbour, the boat owners look blank when you ask them about a fishing trawler positioned in this water. They flatly say it is not possible.
But opinion differs wildly at Sassoon Dock, one of the oldest wet docks of the city which was built by Jewish businessman David Sassoon in the 1800s. A few of the dock workers recall seeing a boat parked in the waters parallel to the pairee (steps).
Another youth says, "It was parked in the water and I saw a navy patrol boat bring it here." Alternately, the patrol boat he spied could have been about to take it away to Bhau Cha Dhaka.
But port trust security officers say it is not possible for a trawler from Gujarat to land at Sassoon Dock because only Maharashtrian trawlers can land at this point. He says, "The local fisherfolk would immediately complain that an outside boat has come in."
Image: At Bhau Cha Dhaka, boats are identified by their flags that represent a certain fishing locality
Also see: Remembering those we lost
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