Coastal road to affect city artisan fishers, says Greens

Mumbai: Environmentalists have been raising concerns over the impact of the coastal road on the livelihoods of fishermen. Drawing a parallel with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link’s effect on the Worli fishing zone, fishermen and marine experts highlighted that reclamation due to such projects impact artisanal fishing in the sea.

At a conference on Friday, environment groups stated that the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)’s rules have been relaxed to make the project possible. As such, a substantial stretch of the coastal road is going to be reclaimed by filling up the inter-tidal area of the rocky shore of the island city.

“The Coastal Road Project will lead to the dispossession of the artisan fishers, and appropriation of the use, control and access to fishing waters and marine resources from its existing users and right-holders. The former UN special rapporteur on the right to food called ocean grabbing as serious a threat as land-grabbing,” read the report by Collective for Spatial Alternatives (CSA) Human Rights Law Network (HRLN) prepared by Shweta Wagh, Hussain Indorewala and Mihir Desai.

The panellists claimed that the firms like STUP Consultants and Ernst & Young that have taken the socio-economic imp-act study of the project, lack the expertise on the matter and it is important that respected independent institutions such as Tata Institute of Social Sceinces (TISS) or Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB) take up such a study.

“The National Institute of Oceanography (NIO)’s report points out that wave dynamics will change and some areas may receive severe attack causing erosion and water encroachment. The NIO report also mentions that there will be change of about 20 cm in water level due to reclamation, which will cause inundation in non-reclaimed areas. Therefore, without a comprehensive scientific assessment must be taken up before clearances are given,” said Ms Wagh.