Several residents living in the vicinity of the coastal road project expressed shock on social media platforms on Tuesday after noticing that buses full of workers were brought to various worksites of the project.
Actor Tara Sharma and screenwriter Sooni Taraporewala were among the those who tweeted images of worksites, where workers were brought in buses. “Workers being brought by bus in defiance of lockdown. Despite the #coronavirus, BMC spending 14,000 crores on the Coastal Road project - fourteen times what they are spending on health projects this year (sic),” Ms. Taraporewala tweeted, tagging the handles of Mumbai Police, Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray, and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
“Coastal road can’t be an essential work. At a time when the entire city is under lockdown and all other infrastructure projects have halted, then why this project? They are also doing work across the entire stretch of the project and not just one site,” said activist Zoru Bhathena.
From the point of view of the spread of the virus, it was a risk as there was no way to effectively maintain social distancing at work sites, he said.
A resident from Worli Koliwada, who wished to be anonymous, said the works were being carried out around 300 m from the coast. “They should understand, particularly in Worli, given the spread of the virus, the risk such actions can have,” the resident, said.
Worli has become a COVID-19 hotspot in the city, with Worli Koliwada being turned into a containment zone.
The BMC, though, has said it is only undertaking critical pre-monsoon works in order to ensure that regions around the coast are not affected. “We are only doing works that will ensure that no damage is done during the monsoon to the areas along the coast and complete works that were left half-way so that they are not a safety risk,” said Jayashree Bhoj, additional municipal commissioner.
BMC officials said the sea wall and reclamation works were partly completed and posed a danger during the monsoon.