Address fishermen's concerns: Shivaji's descendant on memorial

Udayanraje Bhosle, NCP MP and descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, today asked the Maharashtra government to address the concerns of fishermen protesting against the construction of the Maratha warrior king's memorial in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast.
The fishermen community has threatened to start a series of protests against the mid-sea structure even as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of memorial on December 24.
"Fishermen should not face starvation. The Chief Minister, the Governor and other important people should discuss their problems and resolve them," Bhosle said.
"There should be no difficulty in ensuring an alternative arrangement for them," he said.

The NCP MP is expected to be in the select gathering which will witness the bhumi-pujan and jal-pujan ceremony at the memorial site.
The main feature of the memorial will be a 192-metre-tall statue of the Maratha king. The site is a rocky outcrop roughly 1.5 km from the Raj Bhavan shore of Mumbai.

Members of Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti (AMMKS), an association of fishermen from Cuffe Parade, Machhimar Nagar, Geeta Nagar (near Navy Nagar), near Raj Bhawan and Backbay Parade, have said they will fly black flags on their boats and homes as a sign of protest.
Fisherwomen would form a human chain from Nariman Point to Girgaum Chowpatty, holding black flags, when Modi arrives for the inauguration, said AMMKS leader Damodar Tandel.

"On December 24, the day PM Modi is scheduled to perform bhumi-pujan, three main wholesale fish markets -- Sassoon Dock, Bhaucha Dhakka and Crawford -- will be shut," he said.
The livelihood of 1.5 lakh fishermen residing across five villages in south Mumbai, who have 1,500 large boats and 450 small boats, will be affected by the construction, he claimed.