Any local authority in which any immovable property in or near a port is vested may, ¹[with the previous sanction, in the case of cantonment authority or the port authority of a major port, of the Central Government, and in other cases, of the State Government], appropriate and either retain and apply, or transfer by way of gift or otherwise, the whole or any part of the property as a site for, or for use as, a sailors home or other institution for the health, recreation and temporal well-being of sailors.