Maha polls: Fishermen and their issues against infra works

Amid the buzz surrounding the development works taken up by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government, Mumbai’s native inhabitants, the fishermen, have

Amid the buzz surrounding the development works taken up by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government, Mumbai’s native inhabitants, the fishermen, have one question – Who is this development for?

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GROUND REALITY

The state has planned several infrastructure projects along the coast such as the coastal road project, Shiv Smarak in the Arabian Sea off Cuffe Parade, 300-acre Backbay Reclamation Park, Versova-Bandra Sea Link and two bridges connecting Madh to Versova, and Marve to Manori. The community, which is now living in restricted pockets along the coasts, believes these big-ticket projects that are taken up or promoted by the state will adversely affect their life and traditional occupation of fishing, and oust them from their homes. They claim the state isn’t even allaying their fears, let alone solving the issues.

Ahead of the Assembly elections, many groups of fishermen are approaching political parties and local leaders. Hindustan Times visited seven prominent koliwadas (fishing villages) located along the west coast of Mumbai – Cuffe Parade, Worli, Mahim, Juhu, Juhu Moragaon Koliwada, Khardanda Koliwada, and Madh Koliwada – to check the ground reality.

Arvind Sane, from Juhutara Koli Jamat Gaothan Simanghan Samiti, said the plans won’t benefit fishermen. “The government is using the land reserved for development of fishing activities for infrastructure projects. What will the community get out of it? People say our profession is dying, but our children, who have studied business administration or engineering, want to take up the family profession and modernise it. How will destroying the profession help them?”

Over the past one year, fishermen had several run-ins with the government or the law in the course of their opposition for these infrastructure projects. They have been detained by the police, held peaceful protests or even led agitations edging on the brink of violence. In some cases, the protests bore fruit, forcing the government to change its long-drawn plans. However, their battle for their livelihood largely remains inconclusive.

Bhuvaneshwar Dhanu, a member of the Macchimar Sarvoday Co-operative Society, Cuffe Parade, said, “The government is using our land for project-related construction such as jetties, reclaiming several acres of the sea, displacing our homes, taking up the space where we park our boats, repair our fishing nets, or dry our fish. In return, we get empty promises that our demands will be met.”

Ujjwala Patil, Mumbai head of the Maharashtra Machimar Kruti Samiti and member of National Fishworkers Forum, said, “The government has been fooling the fishing community with its promises. We have been opposing projects that require reclamation of the sea not only for the benefit of the community, but also to save Mumbai from flooding and disaster.”

THE OPPOSITION

The Shivaji memorial and Backbay Reclamation Park are a cause for worry for the fishermen of Geeta Nagar and Navy Nagar. Along with the New York’s Central Park-like garden, the BMC plans to connect the missing link between Navy Nagar and Nariman Point by constructing a road in the sea, which will completely block the access to the boat parking area. Dhanu said, “The government has promised us space to park 200 boats. But will the number not go up?”

“The government has accepted eight out of 16 demands we made, but it has given us no written assurance. We have requested for a joint meeting with the authorities working many times. The only time the CM met us was in 2016, the night before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Mumbai on December 24, 2016, for the Shiv Smarak function. It was a midnight meeting, in a hurry,” Dhanu said.

The fishermen from Worli Koliwada are protesting the design of the coastal road project, mainly the distance between two piers which leaves no space for fishing boats to turn during the high tide, and the reclamation between the shore and coastal road which will force smaller boats to go into deeper waters for fishing. The members of this koliwada claim they have had many problems with the Mumbai Police during the course of protests over the past two years and do not wish to be identified. However, a fisherman from this koliwada said, “Even though only a little bit of coastal road work has been done, our catch has dropped 50%.”

Just after the Lok Sabha elections in May, the police detained three fishermen from the Worli koliwada, during Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray’s rally in the area. While Worli area is known to be the Sena’s turf, fishermen don’t trust the party. A fisherman said, “We did not vote during the Lok Sabha elections. Our MP is Arvind Sawant. Not once in the past five years did he come to meet us, or ask us what our problems were.”

Aaditya Thackeray will contest the Assembly elections from this constituency. Regarding construction of the missing link between Navy Nagar and Marine Drive, Thackeray had told Hindustan Times in August, “The BMC will have a dialogue with local fishermen afflicted by this project, and understand their needs and concerns about parking their boats.”

The fishermen from the Khardanda, Juhu, and Juhu Moragaon Koliwada have been protesting the various aspects of the Versova-Bandra sea link, to be constructed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC). They have objected to the destruction of mangroves, which are breeding grounds for fish, and have demanded the piers of the bridge should not hinder medium-sized boats from turning during high tide. Last week, the HC directed the environment ministry to explain the two permissions granted to the Versova-Bandra sea link, one of which involved cutting of 1,585 mangroves. The fishermen are also against the construction of a casting yard for the sea link on the Juhu beach, whose location was shifted to Santacruz three months ago. “We are tired of approaching our elected representatives. Now we will wait for them to come and ask for our votes, and will then put forth our demands, if they want a vote from us,” said Sane.

The fishermen from Madh have a unique problem. For years, they have been demanding a link between Madh and the mainland. Kiran Koli, from Madh Daryadeep Machimaar Samiti, who is also the general secretary of Maharashtra Machhimar Kruti Samiti, said, “We want this bridge to be constructed. Otherwise, it takes us three to four hours to reach Versova by road. Ferries are no solution to transport, as they are shut during the monsoon months. All good schools, hospitals and facilities are at present three-four hours away.”

However, the original alignment of the bridge displaces several houses. In 2017, after persistent efforts from the representatives, the alignment of the bridge was changed by the BMC.

AUTHORITYSPEAK

“The problems of the fishermen community started 30-35 years ago. The only new decision taken in this government’s term is giving impetus to the coastal road. But problems of fishermen associated with infrastructure projects are notional. Once the projects are ready, the actual problems may surface. However, the BJP-led state and central governments are firm on taking the fishermen along,” Madhav Bhandari, BJP spokesperson said. “The government will ensure the negative impact on fishermen’s life is negligent or minimal. Those who may get affected or displaced will be rightly compensated.”

Spokespersons from Shiv Sena refused to comment.

A senior officer from MSRDC said, “After the High Court shot down the coastal zone management authority’s permission for the casting yard, the fishermen do not want to communicate with us. We have even appointed a consultant exclusively in charge of holding a dialogue with the community. It is not possible at this stage to change the alignment of the sea link.”