As the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has begun work on the south section of the proposed coastal road, a four-lane project that will start from the Princess Street flyover at Marine Drive and continue till Kandivali, Mumbai traffic would become more congested. Mumbai’s fishing community too is worried that this will not only eat into the sea but also their livelihood. While the pollution and unregulated construction have already damaged their sustenance, now the construction work will further hugely impact the breeding of fish. Damodar Tandel, President of the Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kriti Samiti spoke to AV and expressed, We have around 45 Koliwadas, 110 Gaothanes (village-like settlements), and 8 lakh of population in Mumbai. We are one of the original inhabitants of Mumbai and the Sea is our only source of livelihood. The Coastal Road Project, if implemented, can prove disastrous for our community as it will wipe out our culture. Already the Sea Link has diminished our catch, now if this Coastal Road comes up, nothing will be left. Narrating their misery, he further added, Even the Court gave the verdict that the Sea is land’ for the fishermen and if any developmental project takes place on the sea, the fishermen should be taken in confidence. We will appeal to the Court against this injustice and also hit the roads to protest. They cannot ruin our occupation like this. When PM Modi came to inaugurate the Shivaji Maharaj Smarak, we protested against it. We are going to bring together all the parties against the Coastal Road Project and organise a big protest against this decision. In the 1990s, the idea of 55 new flyovers was introduced in Mumbai, promising to solve all traffic problems within the city. However, in 2015, those flyovers have only increased the car addiction in Mumbai and the traffic is even worse than that in 1995. These big highways along the coast shall be redundant by the time they are constructed. Ninety-two per cent of Mumbai’s population travels by non-private vehicles. We need equitable measures of diverse public transit options to solve Mumbai’s mobility problems. The Coastal Road will only further add to the congestion, as moving people directly from one end of the city to another and emptying the cars into the dense southern Mumbai areas, with little infrastructure, will strangle the already congested city. The south section of the Coastal Road, which is expected to be a stretch of 9.98 km, will start at the Princess Street flyover and end at the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The stretch will split into four sections in between Section 1 is from the Princess Street flyover to Priyadarshini Park, while Section 2 is between Priyadarshini Park and Mahalaxmi Temple. Section 3 starts from Mahalaxmi Temple and ends at Maa Hajjani Masjid and Section 4 ends at the start of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. Whereas the north section is planned to be split into three sections the Section 1 starts from the Bandra end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and ends at Carter Road, Bandra, where Section 2 starts that consists of a sea link bridge and ends at Ritambhara College, Juhu. Section 3 ends at Kandivali Junction. The north section is expected to be 19.3 km long. And the construction is said to be completed in four years. Moreover, by encouraging more people to drive to work, the city will be the target of unprecedented pollution from vehicle use, which will choke the existing streets and neighbourhoods. Maharashtra already has one of the highest numbers of death on roads. The new Coastal Road will lead to unprecedented deaths on the roads of Mumbai, as speeds of 90 kmph with Indian driving habits will be lethal for most people. Loss of mangroves would be another crucial issue, as this city is not ready to bear heavy rains. Its drainage systems need urgent attention, Metro work has created chaos, and the city nallahs are clogged. Apart from these, the present damages of metro work, the coastal line would eat up remaining safety, by cutting mangroves in the sea, coastal challenges would be destructive.