Coastal Road Threatens Way Of Life For Mumbai’s Original Inhabitants

“I started going with my father when I was 14,” Patil, 42, said, looking at the boats tethered to Worli embankments—everything around smells of fish. “We have been doing this for five generations.”

For Patil and other families in Worli Koliwada, a horn of a land jutting into the bay in central Mumbai, this life is under threat. Their fishing waters will be dumped with construction debris and gravel to create a 10-kilometre stretch of land for the southern end of the coastal road. A project aimed at easing the commute in the city of 22 million people and over 3.3 million cars. One that could destroy the livelihood of the village with 700 fishermen and 157 boats.

The government is reclaiming the part where the fish breed and they cast nets, Patil said. “Where will we go for the catch? How are we going to survive?”

That’s the story of much of India as building new roads and factories runs the risk of destroying livelihoods—sparking protests and causing delays. Korean steel giant Posco had to abandon its $12-billion mill in Odisha. The nation’s first bullet train, an idea of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, faces resistance from farmers in Maharashtra and Gujarat who will have to part with their land. Aramco’s plan to set up a $44-billion refinery in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, made villagers angry, forcing the local authorities to shift the location.

The coastal road has been controversial since it was first mooted in 2011 by Prithviraj Chavan, former chief minister of Maharashtra. But his successor Devendra Fadnavis went ahead with its execution. While the work began in November last year, at least five petitions challenged the project, citing loss of a living and damage to the marine life. An online campaign to ‘save the coast’ has so far found 91,000 signatories. Even the Bombay High Court on April 23 stayed all work on the southern section. But the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, citing a loss of Rs 10 crore a day, moved the Supreme Court, which allowed it to continue with the work that has already begun.

The fisherfolk were among the original inhabitants of Mumbai and their hamlets—called koliwadas—are now scattered across the city. In Worli, they have been living for generations at the tip of what was one of the seven islands of erstwhile Bombay. Not far from office towers and multi-storeyed apartment blocks in today’s central business district.

But young kolis, according to Anita Yewale of Swadesee heritage walks, are moving away from their traditional calling.

Fishing is hard. Patil makes multiple trips to the nets anchored in the intertidal waters through the day. And his entire family—brother, mother, sister, and sister-in-law—helps him net and clean the catch. They sell most of it to local traders, and some in the Colaba market. All that fetches about Rs 25,000 a month.

The last decade has been bad. Fewer fish are drawn in with the tide after the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, a 5.6-km cable-stayed bridge, came up, according to Yewale. That hurt the fishing business, she said. And the coastal road is only likely to make it worse.

The civic corporation has offered compensation for their potential loss and also plans to rehabilitate them. It, however, declined to comment on BloombergQuint’s queries saying the matter is in court.

122 Football Fields In The Sea

Mumbai has the world’s worst traffic. A commute during rush hour takes 65 percent longer, according to a report by navigation technology firm TomTom, which studied travel times in 56 countries.

The civic corporation estimates that the 20-kilometre coastal road—from Malabar Hill in southern Mumbai to Versova in the north—will cut travel time by 60 percent. Once ready, it will have eight lanes, one dedicated for buses alone. A promenade, bicycle and jogging tracks, and parks will run alongside.

The Rs 11,333-crore northern stretch from Bandra till Versova doesn’t involve reclamation. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation awarded the contract to a consortium of Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. and Italy’s Astaldi S.p.A., which is yet to commence work.

The 9.98-km south section, including a 3.45-kilometre-long tunnel under Malabar Hill, will connect the Princess Street Flyover on Marine Drive to the Worli end of the sea link at a cost of Rs 12,721 crore. For that, according to project details, about 90 hectares or an area as big as 122 football fields will be reclaimed from the sea.

If this goes ahead, there won’t be any catch left along the rocky shores, Nitesh Patil, a fisherman and one of the petitioners against the project, said. Zones near Priyadarshani Park, Malabar Hill are not only good catchments but also breeding areas, he said. “We don’t want compensation. We want the government to leave our catchments untouched.”

The corporation claims no fishing happens along the coast. “[But] our studies have documented 13 different types of practices in the intertidal areas, and many more in the shallow waters,” said Shweta Wagh, founder of Collective for Spatial Alternatives—another petitioner.

“The entire part between Priyadarshini Park and Mount Mary Church (Bandra) is the traditional fishing zone of Worli fishermen,” she said. “The BMC is building bunds, encroaching areas and dumping all kinds of debris and gravel which is completely destroying the ecology. It is also changing the gradient of the coastline.”

Vanashakti, which works for environment conservation, filed a petition arguing that the project threatens 36 species of intertidal sea life. It’s a potential extinction risk, said Sarita Fernandes, conservation officer at Sagarshakti, the marine and coastal research division of Vanashakti. The road will make its ecology unsustainable, she said.

In the court, the municipal corporation argued that there was no merit in the NGO’s argument as the civic body had engaged the National Institute of Oceanography for preparing its marine diversity conservation plan.

Not Cheap

Environmental impact is not the only concern though. Fears around the financial viability of the Rs 12,700-crore southern section have also cropped up.

When first proposed in 2011, it was the cheapest option at Rs 100 crore a kilometre, according to environmentalist Debi Goenka, also a petitioner. “The cost has escalated to Rs 1,200 crore for every kilometre. It has now become the most expensive option.”

The logic that the project is economically viable is flawed, he said. More so because it will be toll-free and people who don’t own vehicles will subsidise rich car owners, Goenka said.

Agreed Hussain Indorewala, architect and co-convener at Amchi Mumbai, Amchi BEST, a citizens’ platform. “When you dedicate such a large chunk of your resources for a car-only project, you are also taking these resources away from public transport”. Building more roads is not the solution for decreasing the density of cars, he said. “It is going to make the situation worse.”

Mumbai’s lifeline is its suburban rail that ferries more than 7.5 million people every day. The government is building eight metro lines to take pressure off the local train network and the roads. Line 3 of the metro, the work on which is underway, will connect the same areas as the coastal road. Yet, many believe that the two projects are complementary.

It’s futuristic, said Rajiv Mishra, principal at Mumbai’s Sir J J College of Architecture and who was consulted during the coastal road study. “You will see in due course the load on the metro will increase,” he said . “We are giving an alternative to citizens to travel from north to south by saving time.”

Vivek Pai, a transport planner, said the road along the coast should be looked upon as a means of shared mobility. “In a few years, cars will become obsolete. It can be used to ferry people using the bus rapid transport system, he said. “The city is going to get new open spaces that can be used as a break-water to arrest the tides and give Mumbai a peaceful internal harbour like the Maldives.”

Umesh Patil doesn’t buy this. “Fishing is our identity and the coastal road will destroy that.” But he keeps faith in the judiciary, hoping that their concerns will be addressed. “For us, court is now like our god.”

(Updates an earlier version with the correct map that shows the tunnel)