In Troubled Waters

Why Koli fishermen, among Mumbai’s original inhabitants, are so vehemently opposed to the proposed Shivaji memorial and coastal road projects

- Moeena Halim

THE SUN IS SETTING over Machhimar Nagar, one of Mumbai’s 45 koliwadas or villages that are home to its indigenous Koli fishing community. At the jetty, a few small wooden boats painted bright red, orange, blue and yellow lie upturned; some rest on the muddy shore lined with plastic bags while others are anchored a few met­ res into the water, bobbing with the waves. The city skyline on either side of the creek makes for a pretty picture. And soon, if the Maharashtra government has its way, an imposing statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji will bedeck the horizon.

The proposal for the Rs 3,600 crore me­morial, which includes a 190 metre statue of Shivaji on 40 acres of reclaimed land over a rocky outcrop 3.6 km from Girgaum jetty and 2.6 km from Nariman Point, awaits approval from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The outcrop is a breeding ground for fish, and Damodar Tandel, president of the Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti, vows to protect the area. But a few kilometres up the coast, at Nepean Sea Road, another massive construction is lined up. A 29 km coastal road project to connect Mumbai to the northern suburb of Malad will begin its first phase by the end of 2017. The project, estimated to cost Rs 15,000 crore, will take at least four years to complete.

PROTESTS AND PETITIONS

Environmentalists have been hotly opposed to both develop­ments. They have been joined by the Koli community that is con­cerned about its livelihood. Ask about the effect of the proposed coastal road on fishermen, and Rajhans Tapke, general secretary of the Koli Mahasangh, is scath­ing: “It won’t have any effect. How can a dead man be affected by anything?”