South Mumbai residents deployed a novel idea on Sunday to register their protest against the city’s ambitious Coastal Road project. A recent peaceful march was stopped by the police for lack of permission.
In an approach merging Sunderlal Bahuguna’s Chipko movement and Munnabhai MBBS’ Gandhian semantics, around 200 residents tied pieces of cloth as rakhis to over 100 trees in the Tata Garden on Bhulabhai Desai Road. Close to half of the green lung will be lost to the project.
The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, or BMC, has begun work on the 9.98 km Coastal Road that will run from Marine Drive at the city’s southern end, to Worli, where it could connect to the sea link road that runs up to Bandra.
The project is facing resistance from several quarters, including fishermen and residents of Breach Candy, Peddar Road and Malabar Hill where the new road will alter localities as well as the coastline. Fishermen have already moved the Bombay High court seeking a stay on the reclamation work.
Activists have voiced concerns that the large scale reclamation for the project will lead to flooding in these areas.
The Rakhi Bandho Vriksha Bachao Abhiyan, saw senior citizens as well as children joining in with placards — little over a fortnight after the city police halted a peaceful protest against the road project.
“In December, we realised about 60% garden is going to be affected by the coastal road. Even if 40% is left, who is going to be able to access it? So it's as good as gone,” said Dr Nilesh Baxi, member of the Breach Candy welfare group.
A child’s poignant placard that said: ‘Why me, I have just started,' captured the mood of the activists.