Coastal road’s cable-stayed bridge to aid fisherfolk

Mumbai:  The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to construct a cable-stayed bridge, which will not have pillars in the sea and will allow fishermen’s boats to navigate the sea without any hindrance at the Worli’s Lotus Jetty. The fishermen had expressed fears that the coastal road project would severely affect their business.

According to civic officials, the cable-stayed bridge is being planned at the area located near Lotus Jetty close to the Samudra Mahal at Worli. The suspension bridge will be approximately 250 metres in length. “The fisherfolk take their boats out into the sea through this passage. In an attempt not to hamper their fishing activities, we are planning to have cable stayed bridge at this place. As no columns will be erected in the sea, the fishermen will be able to navigate easily through the sea and carry out their fishing activities without any hindrance,” said a senior civic official.

Once constructed, the bridge will be the third cable-stayed bridge in the city after the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and the Metro Rail viaduct on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor. A cable-stayed bridge has one or more towers (or pylons), from which cables support the bridge deck.

Fishermen’s leader and president of the Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti, Damodar Tandel said, “We have had several meetings with the BMC chief Ajoy Mehta, expressing fear that the coastal road project might affect fishermen’s business. He had assured us that all measures would be taken to avoid losses for fishermen. The cable-stayed bridge at Lotus Jetty is one of the measures taken by the BMC and we hope that it will not affect Haji Ali’s fishermen.” 

The southern part of Mumbai Coastal Road project, which will be implemented by the BMC, is likely to kick-start before the monsoon. It will span across 

9.98km starting from Marine Drive and go up to Bandra Worli Sealink (BWSL).