Thu, Dec 15, 2022 | Updated 05.05AM IST
- Worli fisherfolk win pier fight with BMC, span to be 120 metres
Worli fisherfolk win pier fight with BMC, span to be 120 metres
The Coastal Road, once ready, is expected to ease traffic in the island city and the southernmost of the western suburbs, with a positive ripple effect inwards
MUMBAI: An over four-year-long battle between Worli fisherfolk and the BMC's Coastal Road wing has culminated in victory for the former. The BMC has said that their request for a navigation span of 120 metres between two piers has been accepted, instead of 56 metres, BMC's original proposal (revised to 60 metres).
Worli fisherfolk had demanded increasing the distance between piers to 200 metres to facilitate unhindered and safe access to fishing grounds in the open sea. The chief engineer of the Coastal Road project, Mantayya Swami, said that the navigation span of 120 metres will be only between piers 7-9, while it will be 60 metres for the remaining.
The BMC's move, conveyed in a letter sent on Monday, followed a request to chief minister Eknath Shinde on October 7, who directed the appointment of a committee of experts to scrutinize the issues being faced by fisherfolk. The committee stated that the navigation span gap could be increased till 120 meters.
The BMC's Monday letter was met with massive celebrations in Worli Koliwada, where a procession was taken out to thank the local deity. Nitesh Patil, chairman of the Worli Nakhwa Matsya Vyavsay Sahakari Society, said, "We are very happy that our efforts have borne fruit. We had followed up on our requests with the previous government, which did not pay need. We are happy that the current dispensation listened to our requests. While our demand was for increasing the span to 200 metres, we are satisfied with the middle path that has been worked out," said Patil. "This could not have happened without the blessings of our deity. Therefore, we felt the need of going on a thanksgiving procession."
Architect Shweta Wagh, associate professor at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture (KRVIA), who was one of the authors of the report 'Social Ecology of the Shallow Seas', said that after being ignored for many years, fisherfolk stopped Coastal Road construction near Worli and it was only then that they got a seat on the negotiating table with the authorities. Wagh's report had pointed out the impacts of coastal reclamation on Worli's fishing zone.
"Even when they were brought to the negotiating table, their demands were not taken seriously," Wagh said.
But their persistence resulted in the formation of a committee of representatives from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and two independent experts. This committee met a month ago and unanimously agreed that 120 metres must be provided for safe navigation of fishing boats at Cleaveland Bunder in Worli," Wagh said.
Coastal Road works are in full swing along the city's western shoreline and the authorities are targeting a deadline of November 2023.
Worli fisherfolk had demanded increasing the distance between piers to 200 metres to facilitate unhindered and safe access to fishing grounds in the open sea. The chief engineer of the Coastal Road project, Mantayya Swami, said that the navigation span of 120 metres will be only between piers 7-9, while it will be 60 metres for the remaining.
The BMC's move, conveyed in a letter sent on Monday, followed a request to chief minister Eknath Shinde on October 7, who directed the appointment of a committee of experts to scrutinize the issues being faced by fisherfolk. The committee stated that the navigation span gap could be increased till 120 meters.
The BMC's Monday letter was met with massive celebrations in Worli Koliwada, where a procession was taken out to thank the local deity. Nitesh Patil, chairman of the Worli Nakhwa Matsya Vyavsay Sahakari Society, said, "We are very happy that our efforts have borne fruit. We had followed up on our requests with the previous government, which did not pay need. We are happy that the current dispensation listened to our requests. While our demand was for increasing the span to 200 metres, we are satisfied with the middle path that has been worked out," said Patil. "This could not have happened without the blessings of our deity. Therefore, we felt the need of going on a thanksgiving procession."
Architect Shweta Wagh, associate professor at Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture (KRVIA), who was one of the authors of the report 'Social Ecology of the Shallow Seas', said that after being ignored for many years, fisherfolk stopped Coastal Road construction near Worli and it was only then that they got a seat on the negotiating table with the authorities. Wagh's report had pointed out the impacts of coastal reclamation on Worli's fishing zone.
"Even when they were brought to the negotiating table, their demands were not taken seriously," Wagh said.
But their persistence resulted in the formation of a committee of representatives from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and two independent experts. This committee met a month ago and unanimously agreed that 120 metres must be provided for safe navigation of fishing boats at Cleaveland Bunder in Worli," Wagh said.
Coastal Road works are in full swing along the city's western shoreline and the authorities are targeting a deadline of November 2023.
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