Fishermen oppose Mumbai's coastal ring road plans

Fishermen and citizens organisations have opposed the proposed coastal ring road for the metropolis, for which Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is lobbying hard at the Center for its clearance.

"The chief minister should have consulted fishermen before finalising the coastal road plan," President of Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti Damodar Tandel said.

"The construction of the coastal road would endanger the livelihood of fishermen and destroy most of the koliwadas (fishermen colonies) in Mumbai," Tandel said.

There are 5,000 mechanised trawlers in Mumbai and around 8 lakh fishermen stay in 40 koliwadas here, Tandel said. "We supported the Worli sea link project in the larger interest of the people of Mumbai but we feel no purpose will be served by the coastal road," he said.

If the government goes ahead with the coastal road plan, fishermen will organise massive protests, Tandel said.

In a letter to Chavan, Hansel D'Souza, President of the Juhu Citizens Welfare Group said, "we have read, with great dismay, reports in the media about your proposal to construct coastal roads along the coasts of Mumbai.

"With the construction of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the Worli-Haji Ali Sea Link and the Bandra-Versova Sea Link, a parallel coastal road will be absolutely redundant. Similarly, the Sewri to Panvel Sea Link, if connected seamlessly to the Thane-Belapur Road, will run parallel to the Eastern Coastal Road," he said.

"We believe that Mumbai city needs mass urban transport like an underground metro, connecting monorail, a city tram system, dedicated BRTS, cycling lanes, pedestrian subways and underpasses. Please remember that our suburban rail network transports 7.5 million passengers a day which is approximately the population of Switzerland. We need to augment and support this system which is Mumbai's lifeline," D'Souza said.

The fragile coastal eco-system supports lakhs of fishermen and small fishing communities living in koliwadas and gaothans along the coast, he said.

"Your proposal will destroy their livelihood. Besides, Mumbai’s beaches with a huge tourist potential will be lost forever. The flamingos on the east coast will never return," D'Souza said.

Much cheaper solutions costing a fraction of the outlay, estimated at around Rs 6,000 crore, are available, he said.

"For example, if the arterial road from CST to Thane and Sion to Dahisar is converted into a signal-less expressway, we would not need more roads for private vehicles. We would have to construct a few more flyovers and pedestrian underpasses with escalators to offer seamless flowing traffic corridors," D'Souza said.

On the environmental impact of further reclamation along Mumbai's coast, Citispace convenor Nayana Kathpalia said, "Mumbai has reached a point where reclamation proves negative. As a result, reclaiming land to build roads is a bad idea."