The All Maharashtra Fishermen Action Committee (AMFAC) has threatened to launch an agitation against the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) if it goes ahead and builds a sea bridge between Nariman Point and Cuffe Parade.
The MMRDA plans to construct a 1.3 km sea bridge to decongest the internal roads of south Mumbai and connect it with the under-construction coastal road from Nariman Point.
The fishermen have claimed that their fishing activity will be affected by this project and small fishermen will have to be rehabilitated. He has opposed the coastal road project in the past as he feels it will affect his profession.
The project is expected to cost Rs 350 crore. Last week, MMRDA had floated the tender for the design and construction of the four-lane bridge.
MMRDA believes that the sea bridge will be an important infrastructure project for South Mumbai and will also help in vehicular movement at World Trade Centre, Cuffe Parade, Colaba and Mantralaya by cutting down travel time.
Damodar Tandel, president of AMFAC, said, “There is outrage among the fishermen community as they say that the project has been planned arbitrarily and is being implemented without consulting them. The connector will hinder the fishing business and deprive the fishermen from their traditional occupation. ,
Tandel, along with other AMFAC committee members, had met MMRDA officials and Mumbai Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh on Thursday to register their protest.
Asking whether the project is really needed, Tandel said there is traffic congestion due to the ongoing Metro corridor construction work on Captain Prakash Pethe Marg. “…connecting Nariman Point with Electric House will help solve this traffic problem,” he said.
Tandel said, “Around 90 per cent of the corporate offices at the Cuffe Parade have been shifted to Navi Mumbai and Parel.
“Section 41 of the 2015 Order of the National Green Tribunal, recognizes that the land under the sea belongs to the fishermen… If the MMRDA insists on encroaching upon the fishermen’s sea land, contempt of court shall be issued against him. A case will be registered under the Act, 1971,” he added.
However, the MMRDA claimed that it would rehabilitate the fishermen who would be affected by the project. It has said that a new jetty will be built and a longer span will be used on the bridge to provide a navigational channel for the movement of fishing boats.