10,000 sign petition against Coastal Road

Mumbai: The number of people opposing the Coastal Road project in Mumbai is rising by the day. Around 10,000 citizens have, till now, signed the petition opposing the design of the Coastal Road and most of them are from South Mumbai.

The residents will submit the petition to several authorities in the Central and state government including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis once it has 50,000 signatures. The main demands of those opposing the project are avoiding reclamation of land and stoppage of the work until the schematic plan is explained to residents.

“We will reach our target of 50,000 signatures in 15 days as residents are personally going to buildings to collect them. Initially, it was started online, but later we realised that meeting people personally is more effective,” said Nilesh Baxi, an activist and resident of Tardeo who is part of the group protesting the design of the project.

The petition ‘Save our coast-Develop Responsibly’ was mainly created by residents of Nepean Sea Road, Priyadarshini Park. Later, many talks were held on the environmental hazards posed by the reclamation of 90 hectares of land for the project and their demand for a sealink instead.

The residents have complained that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) did not hold a public hearing before sanctioning the project. However, civic body claims that many presentations were made before residents and doubts were cleared.

Mr Baxi added, “The residents also oppose tree cutting for the project and have issues with the security for the seaside buildings where the road passes just 60 metres away. We are firm (in our belief) that the BMC can build a sealink instead of the road. It will not harm the environment and people will also benefit.”

However, BMC’s chief engineer for the Coastal Road, Mohan Machiwal said, “The design plan was published in June 2015 and now it is too late for any changes.”