07 March,2019 07:39 AM IST | Mumbai | Hemal Ashar
Crowds gather at Scandal Point, Breach Candy, late Tuesday night
Breach Candy on Tuesday night turned into a theatre for a people- power and protest drama after a group of locals assembled at Scandal Point to question authorities over the Coastal Road project. It all began with a message on the Coastal Road WhatsApp group - there is little use chatting, it is time people did something about the work in the neighbourhood.
The local's message triggered at least 60 people into gathering at the work site at 11 pm asking the L&T representative to show them the permission to dump debris into the sea. Locals also "wanted to know if they have permissions to work through the night," said Dr Nilesh Baxi, founder Breach Candy Welfare Group, and a regular walker at the Tata Gardens adjoining Scandal Point.
Poring over the Coastal Road plan at the Wednesday morning meeting
Baxi said that the L&T supervisor could not show the residents the necessary permissions after which the locals told him that "the work should stop and can be continued once permissions are showed to us." While the exchange between the locals and L&T officials was on, a police van patrolling in the area, stopped by and enquired what the matter was. No answer on debris dumping Environmental activist Zoru Bhathena was present at the site on Tuesday night and said that "no decisions could be taken late at night." The trucks carrying construction material were allowed into the site but as a result of the gathering, the Coastal Road work was stopped temporarily.
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On Wednesday morning, residents met L&T's Rakesh Singh Sisodia, project director, Coastal Road. Residents called it a "good" meeting where Sisodia explained to them that the Coastal Road was broken into three packages and that the "permissions would soon be shown to them." "Sisodia has been in touch with us and has said that the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has approved reclamation of the sea. L&T will share copies of the same. He said that they have also been told by BMC (verbally) that they can work 24 by 7. He evaded answering how dumping is happening in the sea in breach of a Supreme Court order. Since MoEF has approved the work, they are doing so, he simply told us," Bhathena said.
Locals talk to the police about their concerns, on Tuesday night
Mohit Harchandrai, a Malabar Hill resident, said that this must go beyond just one night of stopping work. "The noise and flashlights at the work site through the night are extremely disturbing. The project itself seems ill-conceived as the open, green areas that the Coastal Road will create are sure to get encroached. We are also worried about the impact on ecological balance and marine life, along with the massive traffic congestion in Breach Candy, as the area at Scandal Point will become an 'interchange' point for cars getting on to the Coastal Road," he said. Sisodia did not respond to calls or messages seeking his comment on the issue.
60
No. of people at the work site who gheraoed L&T engineer
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