No immersions without a jetty, say fisherfolk

Koli families, the only ones that can perform immersions of Ganesh idols at the Trombay portion of the Thane creek, have decided to boycott the immersions this year. At least 2,000 idols in the eastern suburbs are immersed at the site every year.

The Turbhe Macchimaar Society, representing 10,000 fishermen families from the region, took this decision after talks with authorities from the civic body, the fisheries department and the maritime board on their long-pending demand for construction of a jetty at the site failed on Thursday.

According to the civic authorities, immersion of more than 2,000 Ganesh idols, both sarvajanik and household, from areas in Mankhurd, Chembur and Trombay are performed at the site. As the creek is abutted by a marshy land, during a low tide, said a senior civic official, water recedes as far as 400 metres into the sea. Only Kolis from the area can do the immersions as it requires walking on marshy soil for 400 metres.

For the past 25 years, the Koli families have been demanding the construction of a jetty, which according to Manohar Koli, president of the fishermen society, will facilitate the visarjan and fishing business in the region. “Carrying the Ganesh idols into the sea is a tedious and a dangerous task due to the swampy soil. All we have been demanding is a jetty which runs 600 metres into the sea,” he said.

The municipal corporation having the responsibility of coordination during Ganesh visarjans had organised a meeting of fishermen with officials from the fisheries department and the maritime board to solve the stalemate. However, no decision could be arrived at as senior officials from the two government departments remained absent from the meeting.

Local Sena corporator Rahul Shewale, who was present for the meeting, said, “While the civic body has in principle okayed the construction of the jetty, the fisheries department which has to make the budgetary provision for the construction, was playing spoilsport.”

Koli said that the fisheries department was sitting on the application, citing a 1996 report furnished by a Bangalore research agency, which claimed that construction of the jetty at Trombay was not in state’s “financial” interest. Shewale said that the state and the corporation could not overlook the safety and welfare of the fisherfolk stating financial reasons.

While the Kolis have decided to restrict their boycott to only Trombay for now, they maintain that if a solution to the problem does not emerge soon, they will mobilise support from fisherfolk in other parts of the city and boycott Ganesh immersions completely.