The tragedy in the sea that left a person dead at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial site, has revived demands that the ambitious Rs 2,800-crore project be shifted to land. It is not just the environmentalists who are reacting strongly to this mishap. Investigations and subsequent reports show that neglect, bullying and a cavalier disdain for rules may have been prime cause for the boat tragedy.

A report in this paper stated that political party's workers overloaded the boat, refused to wear life jackets and took a dangerous shortcut. As per schedule, after the chief secretary's boat left, a police boat was to follow it, but the political party's workers showed scant regard for others, and forced their way into the second vessel that hit a rock and sank.