Fishermen in state oppose Mumbai's coastal road plan

Opposition comes when CM is lobbying hard for clearance of plan from Centre.

Fishermen in Maharashtra have opposed the proposed coastal ring road for Mumbai, saying the move would endanger their livelihood. Their opposition comes at a time when Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is lobbying hard with the Centre for the clearance of the plan. "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 to the Thane-Belapur Road, will run parallel to the Eastern Coastal Road."