The city’s first visible ‘makeover’ project — Bandra-Worli sea link, which is in its last leg of the construction, is now in a fresh controversy. A section of fishermen at Worli have demanded that the gap between two particular pillars should be widened as they disrupt their fishing activities and pose danger to their lives. On Wednesday, representatives of the Koli community met Minister of Public Works Department Anil Deshmukh The fishermen demanded that the width of the under-construction pillars be widened from 64 feet to 300 feet. “Going to the sea and coming back in their small boats through the narrow gaps between the pillars will make them vulnerable to accidents. There is a strong chance of being dashed against the concrete pillars when the sea is rough,” said Harish Worlikar, a deputy zonal head of the Congress party, who met the PWD minister. “We want that the span between pillars P-9 and P-10 be widened as it is done in the cable-stayed portion. Another option we have proposed is to do away with one pillar and build one bigger one instead,” he added. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation which is implementing the sea link, has maintained that it is too late to change the designs. A senior MSRDC official, who attended the meeting, said the minister heard their demands and made it clear that no change in the design is possible at this stage. “We are nearing the date to open the sea link. There has been enough delay already which resulted in huge cost escalation and now any change in design would tarnish the image of the government further,” the official said. The cost of the sea link has shot to over Rs 1,600 crore during the last nine years.
