INDIA.Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is constructing a 10.58-km coastal road project, for which they have migrated a huge number of tetrapods between the Princess Street flyover and Worli Sea Face.
The removal of tetrapods encouraged the waves to hit the sea wall adjoining the Marine drive. Residents complain of intense clatter and sense “tremors akin to an earthquake”. BMC chief IS Chahal received a complaint from the residents, against the removal of tetrapods for Coastal Road work. The effects are being felt inside Shree Niketan and Gobind Mahal buildings, situated adjacent to the G and F roads in Marine Drive.
Ashwini Bhide, who is in charge of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) asked the Coastal Road team to examine the matter seriously. He said, “If they formally share their concern with the chief engineer of coastal roads then it will be examined. There are monitoring instruments installed by coastal road contractors to measure the impact of vibrations. The coastal road team has been asked to examine and address the concerns.”
A 67- year old resident Anirudh Somani, felt a quiver more than 20 times within half an hour. When Somani discussed the matter with his neighbours, he got to know that this had been happening since the end of last week. The society chairman Rajan Hiranandani said that he had experienced this for the first time in 55 years. Nariman Point Churchgate Citizen’s Welfare Trust said, “This is a genuine concern and I believe the BMC administration will take serious cognizance of this issue.” There are 35 sea-facing bungalows in Marine Drive and this is a very serious matter.
Professor Deepankar Choudhary, Head of Department, Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay said that “This is a dynamic and natural event so vibrations of the adjoining buildings could be possible during high-tide. However, it will be inappropriate to make a concrete statement on this issue without data.”
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