For the first time, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is set to undertake daily cleaning and maintenance of the 3.5 km long waterfront at Worli Koliwada in a bid to preserve and uplift the heritage of the place.
Last year, the civic authorities took multiple initiatives to revive the Koliwada family in Mumbai. Koliwada is a neighborhood that includes members of the indigenous Koli community who are primarily fishermen. These Koliwadas are located in the coastal parts of Mumbai, and some of them include Mahim, Worli and Cuffe Parade. In a similar move, BMC had earlier opened a seafood plaza in Mahim on the Mahim waterfront.
Speaking to Indian Express, civic officials confirmed that the step of cleaning up the Worli Koliwada waterfront is being taken to improve the beauty of this space.
“Locals mainly use this place to park their fishing boats and since most of the people living here depend on fishing activities, there is a need to maintain this place for which a contractor has been appointed,” said an official.
BMC will spend Rs 1.5 crore annually to maintain this place. The contractor will be responsible for collecting and disposing of floating waste from the water as well as cleaning the entire waterfront. Officials also said that odor control mechanisms will be implemented to ensure that no unpleasant odor reaches visitors from here. In the next step, the BMC intends to develop the entire waterfront into a pathway, civic officials said.
“Before this, we did not take any comprehensive step to maintain the waterfronts. Every now and then, BMC’s garbage collection vehicles would go to collect and dispose of solid waste. This will be the first time that round-the-clock cleaning of beaches will be carried out,” the official said.
(Tags for translation)Mumbai
