The fishing community and the East Indian community from Versova have opposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's plan of constructing two sea bridges connecting the mainland with Madh island and Manori. The communities fear losing their traditional gaothans to development. The Koli community of Madh island, however, harbours hopes that the bridges will ease their commute to Mumbai and bring commercial opportunities closer.
As reported earlier by dna, the civic body is planning to construct two bridges --one connecting Versova with Madh Island and the other, Malad with Manori.
How will the new bridges help?
The Madh-Versova bridge would reduce the travel distance between the two places sharply from 23km to 8km and the commuting time from one and a half hour to 15 minutes.
Similarly, the creek bridge from Malad link road to Manori would reduce the distance between the two places from 32.5km to 5km.
Today, Manori or Madh island are only accessible through Uttan road.
Why is the East Indian community opposed to this?
The East Indian community wasn't consulted by BMC before making plans for the bridge, the community's members told dna. The East Indians are afraid that the bridges will lead to a sharp increase in the flow of people and vehicles to the villages of Gorai and Uttan. Subsequent development in the area would destroy their traditional gaothans, which they say are their last surviving identity.
"We are completely clueless about the BMC's plan. We would want to have a meeting with them, so that we can tell them about the pros and cons of the project," said Rossi D'souza about the Malad-Manori bridge.
'Ashamed of backwardness we live in'
On the other hand, Sachin Madhkar, resident of a gaothan at Madh Island said that people like him, who have to travel regularly to the city, are highly inconvenienced as they first have to take a ferry boat from Madh jetty and then travel to the city from INS Hamla.
"To come and go back to Madh Island from Versova takes more than two hours, if we use public transport. If we drive from Versova, then too it takes more than half an hour. If the Madh-Versova bridge reduces the commuting time to 15 minutes, why wouldn't we want it?" said Madhkar.
Madhkar spoke of evenings when he reached Mumbai late night from another city and had to put up at Versova overnight, since all public transport, including the ferry services had closed for the night. "We are ashamed of the backwardness we live in. Who wouldn't want development here?" he asked and added that the projects would also help Koli fisherwomen who travel from Madh Island to Sassoon docks at 4am for business.
Soil inspection before construction
SO Kori, chief engineer, Bridges, said, "We will first have to carry out a soil inspection before starting the construction. We might hold meetings with the people to understand the issues."
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