Automated Translation:
We provide food too!

Nepean Sea Road to Jagannath Bhosle Marg (Badhwar Park) is the last leg, and the first of the Coastal Road. A subway will run directly from the beach at Nepean Sea Road to Marine Drive. This subway will pass through prime and renowned areas like Girgaon Chowpatty and Malabar Hill where the entire cabinet resides. Starting from Nepean Sea Road, the subway will emerge directly from the sea in front of the Oberoi Towers on Marine Drive. A ramp will be constructed from there to the corner of Marine Drive. A wall will also be built in the sea to protect this ramp. So the view of the sea from here will be closed forever.

From NCPA, an embankment will be placed in the sea near Badhwar Park from one side. On this route falls the most important Koliwada in the city. Four to five hundred fishing boats are in the Badhwar Park Koliwada. Therefore, the passage of the fishing boats may be blocked after filling in the sea, but the Koli community here is not even aware of the Coastal Road. Government gives loan waivers to farmers. We’re farmers too, aren’t we? Don't we provide food to people? But no one thinks about us. These are the heartrending words of the Koli community here.

_____

Trust in leaders

This Koliwada is big. Hundreds of fishing-boats have been moored in the harbour here. Fishing is temporarily halted here, and to add to it________. Fishermen of this village have strong faith in their leaders. On our way to the port we met Chintamani Chamur, a fisherman. He was heading back from the port itself.

We asked him, ‘do you know about the Coastal Road?

Pat came the answer 'Yes'.

‘Any guesses on how? - we asked.

'There will be a bridge' - Chamur.

‘Who told you?’ - we asked.

‘Leaders said so' - Chamur.

But, when asked if he had looked at the map, the instinctive answer was 'no'. After going through the project report, it is noticed that the municipality has not yet decided how to build the coastal road in this area. But Chamur was very frustrated with the leaders, and tried to meet Vilas Chavari, president of the Khar Danda Fishermen's Society. But they did not meet. Called them. He said, go ahead with the coastal road; but do not stop the management of Koliwada. We need a place to go to the sea to moor our boats. That the sea will not be filled is a given, and even while building the bridge, one should consider the high and low tides’He also said that discussions are currently underway on this issue.

Filling will be done in the sea up to Dandekar Chowk in Khar Danda. From there on to the bridge at the tip of Khar Danda. No one had an answer as to what effect the filling of the sea would have on the village. The fishermen firmly believed the leader’s assurances that the sea would not be filled at all. Praying for ______ he set off towards Chimbai village.

They’re tensed about the noise!

Along the road from Mahalakshmi to Nepean Sea Road, live the rich and famous of Mumbai - Kubera’s denizens. There is a lot of opposition here, even if a single brick has to be laid. Half of the sea will be blocked for the coastal road. So one can imagine future opposition. A sea ramp will be constructed for the subway passing under Malabar Hill from the sea near Nepean Sea Road to the road to the Clinical Diagnosis Centre, which is a stone’s throw away. The sea in front of this will be blocked by the ramp. Getting a view of the ocean from a five-star park like Priyadarshini Park will be difficult because of this. The journalist had a chat with the chief security guard, concealing his true identity. He also did not know about the Coastal Road. But having said that, after the coastal road, the traffic noise will increase, won't it - was the question he asked. The Koliwadas are worried about their homes, livelihood, and family, while Kubera’s denizens here are worried about the noise. We reached Amarsons Garden. It was also closed. So we refocused our attention on the watchman. After a while the watchman appeared, and granted us admission. This is the only official Joggers Park in South Mumbai. A bypass will be provided adjacent to this park. So the peace here will be disturbed, besides the park will be gone. Our journey was now on its last leg. The next stop was Jagannath Bhosle Marg._____

Seaface to become history

For the youth, this seaface holds pride of place in their hearts and it is going to become history. A road is going to be built on this 2-km seaface by filling in the sea. Therefore, the youth will not be able to enjoy the unparalleled happiness of standing on the road and catching the waves of the foamy sea. A 100-meter wide road will be made at the end by filling the sea here. So one will be forced to watch the sea from behind the moving vehicles. One or two young couples and some girls had probably bunked college and were sitting in the sun. We tried talking to them, but it was of no use. They had no idea. A bridge will be constructed from Mahalakshmi to the first end of Worli. As Mahalakshmi Temple and Haji Ali Dargah are prominent places, there is no option but to build a bridge here. This bridge will be about two kilometers long. We met the trustees of Mahalakshmi Temple Board to inquire about the Coastal Road; but the visit was wasted as we did not learn anything.

_____

Float or sink?

There is a small Koli community living in Chimbai village. Because of Tanner, the houses were in the village itself. When I went enquiring near the port, a woman came up to me. Looking at the camera in my hand, she asked, 'What are you taking photos of?' When we told her, she immediately introduced us to Neelkanth Chimbaikar, a local fisherman. Chimbaikar took us to a nearby temple. There, Suresh Chimbaikar, another fisherman, sat repairing his fishing nets. He told us, 'Government officials come and conduct surveys. This has been going on for years. They have also marked the jetty; but I don't know for what. We read about the Coastal Road only in the papers. A few days ago there was a meeting of experts of______. I had attended the meeting but didn't quite understand what it was about.'

Neelkanth Chimbaikar also cut in, saying, 'A few years ago, government officials came. I went to sea with them in a boat. They made some identifying marks by GPS, asked the route of the fishing boats etc.’ From this village till 600 meters i.e. 2-kilometers road from St. Andrew’s Church directly to Bandra Worli Sea Link would be filled. Whether the sea water would enter the village after that or not, was a question that haunted the Chimbaikars. Would the village stay or go? Both looked tense.

We were worried about ending our journey before the sunset. Our next destination was Jogger’s Park._____

There will be no meaning left!

Joggers Park to Band Stand Road is a favorite place for youngsters. It is crowded with youth even in the scorching afternoon sun. A two-kilometer road will be constructed from St. Andrew's Church to Bandra Worli Sea Bridge by filling in the sea. So the students were asked what will happen to this famous road. They balked at first; but after some small talk, chatted here and there about the coastal road. Rizwan, who came with his girlfriend, said, 'I had seen on the news that the road is being built. But don’t know how it will be built.' On telling him that the road would be built in the sea, he says, ‘This means that the prime location will not be there anymore. There will be no point in coming here again. What’s the point if we can’t see the sea, man?’ His girlfriend also agreed. When asked if we could take their photos, he refused. From there we reached the Bandra fort, everyone knows about that fort. Groups of young men and women had gathered there. Many couples were sitting on the rocks. We asked a young man among them about the coastal road, and he said, 'Kuch nahi hoga - nothing will happen. Simply talking about it will take many many years for anything to happen. Until then, we won’t even be of the age to come here. This may be the last generation to hang out on these sea rocks. After that there will be a garden here. This road was going to connect to Bandra Worli Sea Link and extend ahead. On the same road the next part of our journey started towards Worli Seaface.

_____

There is a fear of destruction of traditional businesses in Koliwadas. After the completion of this coastal road, the passage of fishermen will be closed. This road is being built for a handful of rich people who own fancy cars. Instead, focus on improving the railway services.

- Dr. G. K. Bhanji, Koli community leader

_____

20 thousand crores is going to be spent to construct a memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the sea. But instead of constructing it in the sea, it ought to be constructed at Bandra Bandstand. The money that will be saved, should be used to construct a sea link from Kandivali to Nariman Point. But we shall not allow construction of a coastal road by filling the sea.

- Damodar Tandel, fishermen leader.