₹3,000 crore. The idea that humans can steal space from the sea and call it “reclaiming" amuses me. The sea belongs to those who have evolved to live in it.
Marine mammals have evolved over thousands of years to breathe air like us, but eat, mate, give birth and die in the sea. It is they who must reclaim the sea and the coasts from us.
Near-shore waters are nursery grounds for most fish, including sharks and rays. At least three species of cetaceans use only near-shore waters: finless porpoises, humpback dolphins and Bryde’s whales.
If the statue goes ahead, it will not only negate the intertidal richness of Mumbai’s shoreline and threaten sea snakes, pelagic birds, turtles and coral reefs, but also affect the future of people who need.