Sanitise Sassoon Docks without wasting another minute

File pic

Last year, the Bombay High Court, in an interim hearing, stated that renovation of Sassoon Docks in Colaba was necessary to address age-old issues connected to the thriving fishery hub inside. The renovation plans, sanctioned way back in 2016, included an ice factory for the proper treatment of waste, an auctioning hall for fishermen to avoid auctions in the open and a shed for the fisherfolk to rest.

A report in this paper stated that mid-day had visited the docks and witnessed that all the aforementioned structures had been partially built, now covered in fish scales, prawn shells and other waste.

The condition of the dock is filthy. Waste is being dumped there and there is no mechanism to clean it up. This waste is then loaded onto trucks to be disposed of, and the dirty water flows out of the trucks and onto the streets, causing a stench to emanate air across the neighbourhood.

It is distressing that residents have had to go to court over what is a fairly simple problem, dirty docks and see that they remain clean. Here, what comes across is that there is a lack of will and vision from authorities, who need to ensure that the waste is properly incinerated.

There is no use shouting and cheering about other infra projects and screaming about achievements, if locals have to live with stench emanating from fishing docks, simply because cleaning up was not prioritised. With all our technological advancement, one refuses to believe that this is insurmountable. Afford people basic dignity; all clean Mumbai campaigns fall flat if festering problems like these are overlooked. Stop passing the buck, politicising or dilly-dallying. Get this done, Sassooner rather than later.