How migrant workers from across India are building Mumbai's Coastal Road

Preparations are in full swing in Mumbai before the inauguration of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporations BMC most ambitious project the Coastal Road on February 19 Albeit only the southbound carriageway will be opened to the public for select hours presently the project is touted to be a gamechanger and the hands who have made it possible over the years attest to itThe hands behind the making of such a magnanimous project are all migrant workers from various states across India huddled in camps and companyprovided accommodations in the city They shall be on their way as soon as the road is completeThe faces of those associated with the project beam with pride and joy as they recount how good they felt seeing this opulent roadway project come to life40yearold Harvilas Biswas who has been in Mumbai for the past couple of years working on the Coastal Road Project with a very joyous smile said In my native of Kolkata we have never seen such big projects I am delighted I got to work on this If not for Coastal Road I dont know when I could be a part of such an opulent projectBiswas like other workers on site lives in the Century Park colony where the workers are put up Every morning they arrive at the site near Amarsons Garden and get to work assigned to them for the day like paving the roads which include laying asphalt and concretisationThe workers are on site for the next 12 hours until the next shift reports to workAshok Kumar Das from Biharrsquos Muzzafarpur has been associated with the project for three years and has been working at the site near Marine Drive which is scheduled to be inaugurated Elaborating on the work undertaken there Das said ldquoThe work here on a VIP stretch is very different from what I did previously especially working on the tunnel that begins here Working inside a tunnel is very difficultrdquoSushil Pawar a supervisor at the Marine Drive site said no one can work continuously in the tunnel and that it is crucial to rest in between ldquoIf a worker has been working inside a tunnel for two hours they will have to rest for two hours before they can resume work since the oxygen levels are lower under the ground Work on tunnels thus is slower than work done on landrdquo he saidDas added that there are rooms on site to rest for the workers he said that the risk while working under the tunnel is high While Pawar chimed in saying that they have to ensure no untoward incident like a fire does not happen since it will take time for help to reach the workersMohammad Noor Jahan from West Bengal has been working at the Amrsons Garden site for a while told MidDay that he has no qualms about working there as the firm has provided them with all necessary safety gearResponding to a query on how they cope with working during afternoon hours under the harsh sun Noor Jahan said that the workers are given adequate amounts of ORS and other glucoserich energy beverages to prevent heat strokesWhen asked about the medical facilities the workers receive a source said that all workers undergo medical checkups routinely which happen once every twothree months He also said that the workers in case of accidents are admitted to the nearest governmentrun facilities like JJ HospitalThe source added that there are three ambulances on site and a medical staff that tends to conduct the triagesHowever the workers who have mostly migrated from states like West Bengal Bihar and Uttar Pradesh pointed out that living in Mumbai is costextensiveChandan Prasad 37 who has been in Mumbai for many years said that working on the Coastal Road project has been a rewarding and new experience Chandan who works in the electrical departments elaborated on it Id always worked for metro projects This is a new and different experience in comparison Workers usually follow our senior incharge If they are transferred and later call us to work on the site they are at we follow themChandan who has previously lived in cities like Lucknow said that inflation hits hard in the city Work here has been good but living in the city is expensive The rate of inflation is high here and it puts a dent in our pockets he saidPawar added that presently security personnel Traffic Police Fire Brigade department have been surveying the Marine Drive to Worli stretch due to the impending inauguration ceremonyMore on the Mumbai Coastal Road projectThe Mumbai Coastal Road Project officially named the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Motorway is an ambitious infrastructure initiative that is touted to transform Mumbais transportation landscapeThe 292kilometre eightlane motorway is intended to connect Marine Drive in the south to the northern suburbs while hugging the citys western coastlineThe projects main purpose is to ease Mumbais notorious traffic congestion It seeks to cut the travel time between south and north Mumbai from two hours to 40 minutes by providing a highspeed alternate route The newly launched route between Marine Drive and Worli would reduce travel time from an hour to ten minutesThe project dubbed an engineering marvel includes several notable features such as undersea tunnels a sea wall and various interchanges and flyovers to improve traffic flow and link to existing roadwaysWhile the initiative offers various benefits it has also received criticism Critics claimed the proposal would harm coastal ecosystems and marine life Construction has reportedly harmed mangroves and nesting places for endangered species Furthermore the projects enormous cost prompted concerns about its longterm financial viability