An organisation of fishermen has opposed the proposed memorial of Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea.
An organisation of fishermen has opposed the proposed memorial of Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea. They have demanded rehabilitation of fishermen who will be impacted by the construction of the memorial before the project is started.
Paramparik Machhimar Seva Samiti’s (PMSS) Rohit Pandey on Monday said, “Government has not given a proper consideration to fishermen and their livelihood. For fishermen, fishing is the only source of earning and building of statue in the sea can affect our lives badly.”
The proposed memorial will be established in the Arabian Sea, facing the Marine Drive, in south Mumbai. The Maharashtra government finalised US-based Aegis Design as a project management consultant (PMC) for the 190-metre-high, Rs 2,000-crore statue.
According to the chief engineer of the public works department (PWD), Mumbai, HS Pagare, there were three bidders in the race namely STUP Consultant Pvt Ltd, Tata and Patil Consultancy. Aegis & STUP were short-listed and later on Aegis was finalised. The 16-hectare complex will be situated at 2.6 km of Mumbai’s Nariman Point.
Many Colaba fishermen have also opposed the building of the memorial and stated that it can create problems for them to survive.
“Building of the statue will help tourism industry, but it will be a bane for fishing,” Mr Pandey said.
“The area selected for the proposed memorial is used for fishing. We get prawns, rawas and other fishes there. But tourist boats coming to that area will damage our nets and create difficulties for fishing. The state government had promised that it will rehabilitate affected fishermen, but nothing has been done so far. It is the Central government’s policy to first rehabilitate project-affected persons and then undertake the project. We should also be treated as project-affected people. The project should be undertaken only after our rehabilitation,” he further added. PMSS also claims that many fish species such as Shind, Ghod, Kota, Ravas, Bilja, Tarli and Kombi, will be affected badly by memorial construction.
