The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has floated tenders scouting for consultants to identify fishermen who will be affected by the construction of the Bandra Versova sea link which is presently under construction. “The role of the consultancy will be to identify in which areas are fishermen getting affected in terms of livelihood and how much compensation should be given,” an MSRDC official said. The study is being undertaken midway through the commencement of the project.
Fishermen’s Associations have questioned the need of hiring a private consultancy firm to conduct the survey. “We want MSRDC to also involve fishermen who will represent those affected in the area where the sealink alignment passes. Otherwise, we will call for a protest and won’t allow them to carry out the survey work,” said Kiran Koli, General Secretary of Maharashtra Macchimar Kruti Samiti. Koli furthermore added that for the Thane Creek Bridge–3, too, a petition was filed by another fishermen association of Vashi. The court had directed the fisheries commissioner to form a committee to address issues of all project affected fishermen. The committee was set up, but no fishermen was made a committee member.
“In this committee also, only officials have been empanelled. We want representatives of fishermen to be involved in these matters,” Koli said., adding, “Otherwise policy decisions taken may always be under dispute.” The Bandra Versova Sea link is a 17–km project is expected to cost Rs 7,000 crore. Tenders for the project were awarded in 2019. The project was expected to be completed in 60 months from the appointed date of contract. Now the deadline for the completion of the revised project is December 2026, with only nine per cent of the work having been completed.