Demand grows for maritime museum at historic Ghadiyal Ghar in Mumbai

Mumbai: The Maritime Mumbai Museum Society (MMMS) has sought land from the Mumbai Port Authority (MPA) to set up a world-class Maritime Museum in Mumbai. The MMMS, which is a group of maritime and heritage enthusiasts comprising naval officers, master mariners, historians, architects, archaeologists, designers and citizens, has asked Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora to urge the MPA to allot its now disused ‘Traffic House' (Ghadiyal Ghar or Ghadiyal Godi) to house Mumbai's Maritime Museum. Deora has urged Union Ports and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and the MPA to allot the land. "Mumbai does not have a maritime museum despite its long maritime history of going back to the Shilahara dynasty in the 8th-13th century. The Mumbai Port has an iconic building, built in 1890, called Ghadiyal Ghar, which is suitable for conversion into a maritime museum. The building is vacant and has not been in use after the docks it served were closed in 2008. My suggestion is to establish a maritime museum at Ghadiyal Ghar which will complement the Naval Maritime Heritage Complex at Lothal and showcase the very local maritime history of the Konkan coast, including the intimate history of this region, which will be in addition to the national level displays at NHMC," Deora said in his letter to Sonowal."Mumbai has a wealth of talented and interested societies, registered museum trusts, and other competent organizations keen to participate in a maritime museum project. They could be selected through open competition," said Deora.Deora also wrote MPA Chairman M. Angamuthu, saying it is a matter of concern that the city of Mumbai, which boasts a rich and diverse maritime history from the Kohli community and fishing heritage, to the legendary Maratha naval armour under Sarkhel Kanhoji Angre, Portuguese shipping building legacy represented by Mazgaon Docks Limited, the Mumbai Port Trust, the hardworking dock workers, and the strategic western naval command, does not as yet have a dedicated Naval or Maritime Museum. In his recent reply to Deora, Sonowal said the Centre's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is developing National Maritime Heritage Complex (NMHC) at Lothal in Gujarat. "The Maharashtra govt has already consented for the development of its coastal state pavilion at NMHC," Sonowal said in his reply to Deora.
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