Floating ad barges and hoardings planned off Mumbai coast anger fishers, environmentalists

A new decision by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) has sparked a debate in the coastal areas of Mumbai and the Konkan. Plans have been drawn up to put up floating advertising barges and brightly lit hoardings along the seashores and creeks of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Vasai. The government's aim is to raise revenue, but the move has raised questions about the marine ecosystem, biodiversity and the beauty that belongs to the public.

Under the plan, advertisements will be put up through tenders at about 20 to 29 sites in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). These include crowded and sensitive locations such as Juhu Beach, Carter Road, Marve Jetty, Lotus Jetty, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link area in Worli, the Vashi creek bridge, Airoli, Gaimukh, Ghodbunder, Mumbra and Vasai creek. At some sites, digital advertisements will run on large barges floating in the sea, while at others traditional or digital hoardings will be erected on creek bridges and near jetties.

The earnings are expected to be large. The minimum annual licence fee for the Juhu Beach barge is about Rs 31.63 lakh, while for the Vashi bridge barge the fee goes up to Rs 1.02 crore.

According to the Maritime Board, the proposal is not only about advertising. The revenue will be used to modernise and maintain the coast's port facilities and to develop water transport projects. State Ports and Fisheries Minister Nitesh Rane said the board had earlier given only a no-objection certificate (NOC), and is now opening a way to earn revenue from it while following the rules. The administration claims that all environmental clearances will be obtained as required by the rules.

Environmentalists and scientists have expressed deep concern. They say that bright LED lights burning day and night could disrupt the natural cycle of marine life. The pace at which fish search for food, their movement and their biological cycle are disturbed by the intensity of light.

B.N. Kumar, director of the NatConnect Foundation, has voiced fears that the bright light could disorient many local and foreign migratory birds, including flamingos. He recalled that in 2024 a flamingo strayed because of similar lighting and collided with an aircraft. In his view, air travel safety could become a major question in future.

Under the rules of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), approval from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) is required. It is alleged that tenders were invited before such approval was obtained.

The livelihood of fishers is also at stake. Thousands of families in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Vasai depend on traditional fishing. Anchoring of the advertising barges, the movement of people there, and boat repair and maintenance are feared to increase water pollution. Fish catches in the creeks have already declined because of pollution. Fishers' leader Devendra Tandel asked angrily how the administration could put up such large and bright hoardings in the sea when the use of LED lights in fishing is already banned.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray has written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding immediate intervention in the decision. In the letter he wrote: "Because of growing pollution in the city, it has already become difficult for people to see the sea clearly. In such a situation, this attempt to spoil Mumbai's natural beauty by putting up floating hoardings in the sea for the commercial interests of contractors is highly condemnable."

Thackeray said people are already struggling with pollution on land, and now even when they go close to nature they will have to look at a pile of advertisements. He said a firm policy is needed to limit LED hoardings, which cause trouble to traffic and eyes at night. His clear stand is that protecting Mumbai's beauty and environment must be placed above the financial gain of contractors.

A scientific study of the proposal, after thorough consultation with environmental experts, marine biologists, fishers and citizens, is necessary. The government will have to find a middle path under which Mumbai's coastline, its biodiversity and the mental well-being of people are preserved. Otherwise, it would be no surprise if the Mumbai shoreline, famous as the "Queen's Necklace", comes to be known in future as a market for advertising hoardings.