Kelshi creek bridge: A threat to 15th-century sand dunes?

Mumbai: The Kelshi creek bridge project, which was shelved around 15 years ago, has been revived by the state government. Planned along the Konkan coast around 225km from Mumbai, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) justifies the project to support tourism and improve connectivity to Kelshi. However, the bridge is planned close to the sand dunes that draw tourists to this small village, with the possibility of it destroying whatever little of this heritage site is left.

The sand dunes are said to have formed in September 1524, when a tsunami hit this coastal village. Now, these sand dunes have become one of the prominent identities of the village for tourists.

"Move to boost tourism in the region"

According to the state government, there is currently no road from Mumbai to the Goa border along the coastline. The existing state highway along the Coastal Road is available in a segmented manner due to the long creeks. Due to this discontinuity, road users as well as tourists face some restrictions while planning their trips, as only two-wheelers can board the ferries to cross the creeks. At some creeks, even small vehicles can cross.

“To avoid such difficulties and to boost the tourism industry, it is necessary to improve the existing State Highway No 4 by constructing creek bridges along the coastline on a priority basis,” said an official.

The total length of the Coastal Road is about 500km which is divided into four packages. Of these, the second package includes a road from Bankot to Jaigad having a length of about 110km in Ratnagiri district. The proposed bridge on Keshi creek is an important connectivity link between Mandangad and Dapoli Taluka proposed from Sakhari village on the Velas side to Kelshi, which reduces the travel distance and time, with improved connectivity.

The 670-m-long bridge with 305m of approach road is proposed to be constructed on the creek at the cost of Rs107 crore. Some structures for the bridge (on the Velas side) were already built about 15 years ago, when the project had faced stiff opposition on the ground as well as in the High Court, due to which it had to be shelved.

A well-known turtle nesting site

The region is also a well-known turtle nesting site with a turtle festival held around March-April each year when hatchlings are released into the sea. Every year, olive ridley hatchlings are released into the Arabian Sea through the turtle conservation programme by the forest department in collaboration with various local gram panchayats. The initiative was started jointly by the Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra NGO and the Marine Conservation Society in 1992.

Predators, high tides and strong currents pose a threat to the turtle nests and gram panchayat members take up conservation of the eggs. They are safely moved to hatcheries that are and covered with sand and fenced off. When the hatchlings emerge 40-45 days later around March-April, they are released into the sea.

A female turtle releases 100-150 eggs at a time, burying them deep in sand pits at beaches. There are four nesting sites in Raigad district.