Haji Ali Dargah is a unique place of religion among others in the coastal cities. Everybody who traveled on the busy road connecting South Mumbai to Mahim stared at the low white mausoleum in the middle of the sea, its single minaret blending with the horizon. That familiar sight has vanished now.
November 1, 2023, marked the 557th death anniversary of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari. Yet, on November 1, the pilgrim spot had very less visitors. On this, the drivers who run share-taxis from the Haji Ali Dargah to the Mahalakshmi station were upset.A store employee at the dargah mentioned that since the Coastal Road construction started, stalls had vanished. He further added that there has been a 30% drop in visitors at Haji Ali. Haji Ali Dargah is a spot where many people visit and pray but after the Coastal Road Project’s construction began the number of visitors dropped.
The complex's overall shape has been altered by the Coastal Road. Before the project's construction began, the moment one turned onto the small entry road, the dargah was a beautiful sight pleasing eyes. Earlier, this beautiful sight welcomed the pilgrims as they continued to walk along the slender path that led to the shrine while crossing the sea.Now, as soon as you enter the entry pathway, there is no longer any sea or dargah. Before you catch a glimpse of the sea or dargah, you have to pass through a gravelly road where trucks drive up and down, a dark tunnel stained with paan spits, and a steep wall on one side.
Many hawkers on the road have been born and brought up in the locality. They not only miss the sea view but also complain that now on occasion the dirty seawater has to be pumped out. Earlier, the waves would immediately recede.For these hawkers, the Coastal Road is proving to be a hard move. More than 100 of them were displaced by the tunnel, they say, and the promise of reinstatement has yet to materialise. They said that they inherited their parents’ business, but they'll make sure their children do not take over the business they are doing currently.
Answering the question of if the defacement of the Haji Ali approach had an impact on tourists, Suhail Khandwani, a trusted advisor, maintains that it hasn't in fact, he claims they've gone up. Except for volunteers on special occasions, they now require 30 security personnel instead of 12.
The trustees hope that the long-pending Haji Ali Dargah beautification project will receive attention after the Coastal Road is completed. Khandwani said he has been to 17 meetings in the last seven years, but the implementation has been incredibly slow.
The dargah might end up looking completely different as a result of the beautification.
The 10.5 km long, high-speed Mumbai Coastal Road Project, which will connect Worli and Marine Drive, should be open to the general public by the end of this year. The vast concrete path that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is building will drastically alter how people move around the city.
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