Destruction of the wetlands, livelihoods and culture
Neither the ex-chief minister of Maharashtra Fadnavis, nor the civil aviation minister Puri, nor the current finance minister of India, Sitharaman, has spoken of the destruction of the wetlands, the rivers, the mangroves, the mudflats and the swamps in the area, and nor did they mention the project-affected people of the area in Navi Mumbai. The satellite town has seen aggressive expansion since the mid-1990s and is now struggling with the severe impacts of climate change. Its inhabitants are frequently exposed to heavy floods during high tides and untimely cyclones. Particularly vulnerable are the fisher communities who live among the mangroves.
Vinayak Koli, a 35-year-old resident of Moha village near Ulwe, an upcoming financial hub said, ‘Mumbai needs more space to grow. Space cannot be created, so the projects have moved looking for alternate space, and reached here. If they (government) cannot accommodate residents, how are they going to accommodate the migrants?’
He said that people who have a voice are now speaking of how airport construction has endangered the area’s biodiversity.
A botany student who is resident of Ulwe village and who wished to remain anonymous said, ‘many organisations have come forward to conduct clean-up drives in mangroves and river areas to show how aware they are as citizens but in the end when government destroys thousands of hectares in one decision, their awareness doesn’t count. The victim here, is the fisherman, the local, the inhabitant who has lost his work and home.’