Amidst speculation that Mumbai’s controversial coastal road is about to be given the green signal by the Union Environment Ministry, the Maharashtra government signed an agreement on June 6 with the Dutch government for technical assistance.
A central thrust of the Dutch proposal is to partly integrate the city’s third Metro line with the project, for which some 170 hectares are to be reclaimed at a cost of Rs 12,000 crore.
However, R Ramana, executive director of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, says the third Metro line was already sanctioned, its alignment decided with financial closure. The Metro line would also have to be connected to existing rail and road alignments, which the coastal road would not provide.
Joeri Aulman from the Dutch company NACO, who has been in India for eight years, said that only the southern part of Metro 3 at the tip of the island city and the northern part of Metro 2, the route of which is being held in abeyance, would be connected with the coastal road.
Dutch Proposal
In 2011, a Dutch expert made a presentation to then Chief Minister Prithivraj Chavan about the potential of scientific reclamation along Mumbai’s coast, suggesting that 9.8 km of land could be reclaimed from the sea and 8 km from mangrove patches. The coastal regulation zone law prohibits such reclamation, which the new Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar is said to be relaxing for this purpose.
The addition of a Metro line along the road is a red herring – not inappropriate, considering the Dutch fondness for this fish. The project has come under severe criticism from fisherfolk, who fear their livelihoods will be disrupted, as well as environmentalists, for whom reclamation is the detested “R” word.
It was due to the opposition of both that the iconic Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) was delayed for a decade till 2009, as Sanjay Ubale, head of Tata Realty, previously a Maharashtra government official, reminded the meeting.
In order to ward off criticism from greens, the municipal corporation, which is spearheading the project – it is dominated by the Shiv Sena, a BJP state coalition partner – has even proposed reserved bus lanes on the coastal road. Nowhere in the world are such lanes created by building a road but by redesigning existing arteries.
Mumbai’s Commuters
The criticism of the road is that only 7% of Mumbai’s commuters using motorised transport are in cars. Moreover, South Mumbai is losing its clout as the central business district, ceding ground to others in the suburbs. For this reason, the BWSL is now used by some 30,000 less cars a day than planned, leading to all Mumbaikars subsidising the tiny minority of motorists.
Panelists made a great deal of the Dutch connection, pointing out that Mumbai’s extensive reclamation by the British in the 17th century relied on Dutch expertise. As much as 17% of Holland has been reclaimed; its dykes are world-renowned.
Dutch speakers also referred to successful reclamation projects they had undertaken across the world. This included off Dubai, Singapore and at New Orleans and Manhattan.
Bringing Holland to Mumbai
In sharp contrast to Mumbai state and municipal officials, who have never held a public hearing on the coastal road Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte mentioned that his country incorporated the concerns of all stakeholders. He asserted that Holland believed in “building with nature”, arguing that if the fisherfolk were consulted, the project would be completed much faster, therefore saving money in the long run.
This writer asked the Dutch experts whether Holland would contemplate a coastal road exclusively for cars. On the contrary, in Paris, some roads along the Seine have been pedestrianised. Even Manhattan has for years now, blocked off Broadway and Times Square to cars.
The experts conceded that only a multi-pronged project, such as coping with flooding with sea-level rise, creating parks and promenades and other public amenities and infrastructure, would work in Mumbai.
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