Fisherfolk at Worli want wider spans between road interchanges, say it is their main demand
Worli-Koliwada fisherfolk protest against the Coastal Road project in November. File pic
The construction of the Coastal Road work may be delayed further, as the fisherfolk whose livelihood was affected by it, are not happy with just the appointment of an institute to decide on compensation for them. The Worli fisherfolk community had demanded wider spans between interchanges of the road and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) hasn't yet given in to this demand.
The standing committee of the BMC approved the proposal to appoint the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) to draft a compensation policy for the fisherfolk of Worli. A study for the same is supposed to be conducted within 9 months and the cost to draft the compensation policy is Rs 1.50 crore. But the fishing community is not satisfied with only compensation. “Our main demand is to widen the gap between interchanges of the Coastal Road and Bandra-Worli sea link. We will oppose the work till the road is redesigned," said Nitesh Patil, president of the Worli Koliwada Nakhava Matsyavyavsay Sahakari Society.
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“The work is already delayed by two months. The scheduled work was supposed to be completed before next monsoon. But now we cannot complete it in the stipulated time period and it will delay the whole process by at least four months,” said a BMC official. He said in a meeting with the fisherfolk, BMC had explained why the design of the road was so, but the fishing community was not satisfied.
“The issue has been raised since 2016. The actual work of the road started in 2018 and now the BMC wakes up to do a study for compensation which will take at least 9 months. The issue had to be sorted out much earlier,” said Prabhakar Shinde, group leader of the BJP.
"The fisherfolk have requested a navigable span of at least 200 metres, as opposed to 60 metres, under the interchanges. It is the only navigation route out to sea and the fishing activity will stop completely. Even the ramp to build the bridge will stay there for at least 2.5 to 3 years. It has blocked our access. This will hurt our business and we will need compensation for it,” said Patil.
More than 45 per cent of the work on the 10.58-km-long Coastal Road is now complete.
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