Coastal Road project cuts incomes of poor fishers by half: TISS study
The Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) has led to a 50% reduction in the incomes and daily catch of fisherfolk, with those catching fish by hand, mainly women, the worst affected, according to a report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. The study, commissioned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, found that non-mechanised boat owners' daily catch fell from 14kgs per day before October 2018, when work on the MCRP began, to 7kgs per day afterwards. The project, which connects Marine Lines with Worli, has also impacted marginalised fishers' livelihoods, the report noted.
Mumbai:
While the ongoing infrastructure projects of the city promise a better way of living in the future, citizens are paying the price for it at present. That dust-laden air is choking Mumbai’s lungs is well documented. It has now emerged that marginalised fishers’ livelihood are being compromised by the ongoing Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP).
According to a Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) report, published in February 2023, commissioned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the incomes and daily catch of the fisherfolk has reduced by half since work on MCRP – a connect between Marine Lines with Worli – took off in October 2018.
The gravely impacted communities are those who catch fish by hand (primarily women) using cast-nets, in the absence of mechanised boats, revealed the TISS report – ‘Compensation policy and its implementation plan for project affected fisherfolk of Mumbai Coastal Road Project (South)’ – accessed by Hindustan Times. They are more vulnerable, compared to boat owners, tandels and khalashis, who occupy the upper rungs of the social hierarchy. The study has proposed that this section of people be compensated for a longer period in future. “It is clear that shoreline fishing is on the verge of extinction due to the reclamation of the seashore for development projects,” TISS’s report noted.
“The reduction in catch due to the construction has affected the hand-pickers. The species they catch depend heavily on the intertidal ecosystem, living on the small rocks and the craggy seabed. The reclamation has affected these species badly as small holes in the rocky seabed are filled and much of the waste construction material dredges down into the sea,” the report analysed.
The report was compiled based on responses from 680 project affected fishers (PAF). Of these, 560 belonged to Worli Koliwada and 120 were from Lotus Jetty (Haji Ali), a smaller fish-landing centre operated by comparatively impoverished fishers (comprising a large proportion of women, migrants and Muslims), who have experienced a larger impact on catch and income. (See accompanying box).
“Average daily income in both areas has reduced to half while daily expenditure has increased by 27 per cent. Lotus Jetty has seen a 30 per cent rise in its daily expenditure,” the report stated.
The daily catch of non-mechanised boat owners fell from 14kgs per day before October 2018 to 7kgs per day after the project commenced. The largest six-cylinder boats capable of venturing further away from the coast saw their daily catch dwindle from 716kg to 613kg per day.
The TISS study has identified 1,343 beneficiaries entitled to various amounts of monetary compensation. “The list includes boat owners, labourers, handpickers, cast-net operators who come here from Trombay, Cuffe Parade and Wadala. If there are still some people who are not in the list, they can approach the grievance redressal committee, which will be formed. The fisheries department has to first verify the list,” said a BMC official, who did not wish to be named.
Independent researcher Neha Rane, who has been tracking coastal road conflicts in Maharashtra, said, “The report is a rich case study on the extremely heterogeneous economic conditions and livelihoods of two adjacent coastal settlements, making a strong case for independent compensation policies, as against the unilateral manner, which has been proposed. It also demonstrates why the recently enacted statewide compensation policy for fishers will not work in all such cases. Gender and sustainability, with respect to shoreline fishers, needs special consideration on a case by case basis in all instances where infrastructure projects are threatening coastal communities.”