In a relief to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation which is constructing the proposed 35.6 Km coastal road project, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday refused to grant any relief to fishermen from Worli, who have claimed that the civic body has not conducted any public hearing before starting on the proposed project and the road once constructed will take away their livelihood.
A division bench of Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice N M Jamdar directed the Commissioner of Fisheries Department to hear the grievances raised by the members of the two Fishing societies, Worli Koliwada Nakhwa and Worli Machimmar Sarvodaya Sahakari Society, having around 1,000 members and over hundred boats.
The bench orally told concerned police who are alleged by fishermen to been obstructing their fishing activity to act only as permissible in law. Senior advocate Gayatri Singh appearing for the fishermen had argued that the police have been removing the fishing nets and not allowing the Koli community members to fish in the Worli area.
Government Pleader P H Kantharia appearing for the police though denied the same and said: “A meeting was called by the police where the fishermen were informed about the coastal road project and to avoid obstructing the ongoing work.”
Senior Advocate Anil Sakhare appearing for the corporation argued that the work on the coastal road was in public interest and started since November 2018, after receiving all necessary permissions. To which the court asked the corporation to appear before the Fisheries department and according put forth their side. The Commissioner has to hold the meeting on March 4 and submit a report on the next date of hearing.
The plea seeks directions to the civic body to suitably modify the designs of the project and to hold a public meeting with concerned stakeholders says "It is anticipated, that the project, will have a profound impact on the livelihood of the original inhabitants of the city and will result in the loss of direct access to the sea and of coastal commons due to reclamation."
The plea seeks to restrain the corporation from reclaiming the land between Worli to Banganga. It says "Members of the Koli community in Worli have customary rights to fish in these zones. Reclamation and the filling up of this stretch along the coastline will result in a loss of this habitat and consequently the livelihoods of traditional fishers who have no other means of sustenance."
As per the Census of Marine Fisheries in 2003, Mumbai has 23 active fishing villages and more than 35,000 people depend directly on fishing or related activities for their livelihood. The jetties used by the members of both the petitioner societies are the Worli Bateri Jetty, Cleaveland Bunder, Tare Jetty and Lotus Jetty, all situated at Worli bunder.
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