The livelihood of Koli, a small community of fisherman, in the Mumbai’s Worli area is getting affected by the Coastal Road Project. When the reclamation began in 2018, the fishing equipment was getting ruined and there was a significant fall in the number of fishes they caught. The noise of the heavy machines has frightened away the fishes from the area.
The Coastal Road Project of Mumbai is a 35.6 km way, in the eastern coast that would connect Kandivali and Nariman point in Mumbai. This project was proposed because it was time-consuming for people to travel from the suburban areas to south Mumbai. The project would now reduce travel time.
Alongside hampering the livelihood of the fishermen, this would take away the parking space of their boats. With the reclamation of Lotus Jetty, the dockyard of 100 fishermen would be lost.
These fishermen are from families whose main occupation was fishing. On 30 August, without any prior notice officials from the civic authority came and asked them to evacuate the area.
With the progress of the reclamation, the people have incurred a loss of lakhs of rupees. The authorities have buried some boats under the rocks and fishing nets have been damaged. The community have written to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and are awaiting his response.
On the other hand, the BMC has refused to the claims of ordering the fishermen to remove their boats.
The reclamation project had disturbed the marine ecosystem and the fishers have noticed a subsequent fall in their catch. Four fishermen after fishing for over 4 hours they were able to catch fishes only of rupees Rs. 100-250, which was later divided among them. They are getting into large sums of debt. Earlier in a month, they used to earn 15,000-30,000 now, they are earning a meagre amount of 5,000-10,000.
In July 2019, Mumbai High court had put a stop on the work of the coastal road project due to the environmental consequences. The court had ordered the authorities to seek environment clearances. It had provided a relief to the community as their livelihood was at stake.
These fishermen are from families whose main occupation was fishing. On 30 August, without any prior notice officials from the civic authority came and asked them to evacuate the area.
With the progress of the reclamation, the people have incurred a loss of lakhs of rupees. The authorities have buried some boats under the rocks and fishing nets have been damaged. The community has written to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and are awaiting his response.
On the other hand, the BMC has refused to the claims of ordering the fishermen to remove their boats.
The reclamation project had disturbed the marine ecosystem and the fishers have noticed a subsequent fall in their catch. Four fishermen after fishing for over 4 hours they were able to catch fishes only of rupees Rs. 100-250, which was later divided among them. There are getting into large sums of debt. Earlier in a month, they used to earn 15,000-30,000 now, they are earning a meagre amount of 5,000-10,000.
In July 2019, Mumbai High court had put a stop on the work of the coastal road project due to the environmental consequences. The court had ordered the authorities to seek environment clearances. It had provided a relief to the community as their livelihood was at stake.
