Fishermen Vasudev Tandel is busy weaving a 20-metre mesh at Cuffe Parade's Machhimar Sarvodaya Sahakari Society, when we interrupt his chore on a muggy Friday morning. For the next one month, the 45-year-old plans to keep himself busy fixing the boat, nets and other fishing equipment, as the state government has prohibited fishing till July 31 to facilitate breeding in the ocean. But, Tandel isn't anxious about not having much work at the moment. His overriding concern is whether he will even have access to fishing in the waters a year or two from now.

As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started inviting bids to start work on the first phase of the Coastal Road Project - a four-lane project that will start from the Princess Street flyover at Marine Drive and continue till Kandivli - Mumbai's fishing community is worried that this will not only eat into the sea, but also their livelihood.