Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority confirms CRZ status of Nerul plot up for sale by CIDCO

Confirming the apprehensions of activists, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has deposed that the 25,000 sq mtr plot at Nerul which CIDCO floated for tender for residential and commercial development falls under CRZ1 and ll.

The Western Zonal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has stayed the tender process after two separate petitions were filed by Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society and a group of citizens challenging the sale by CIDCO of Plot 2A at sectors 54-56-58.

CIDCO's response to petitions in NGT

CIDCO, meanwhile, has in its response challenged the NGT’s jurisdiction to admit the petitions and argued that the tender process has fulfilled all CRZ provisions.

There is nothing in the law that prevents CIDCO from showing the CRZ1 area as part of the plot for sale, said the affidavit signed by Gajndra K Jangam, CIDCO’s Marketing Officer (Commercial). CIDCO has clearly stated in the tender document that the bidder has to obtain necessary clearances, it said.

Activists protest sale of CRZ land

NatConnect Foundation which first raised the red flag against the CRZ plot sale by CIDCO said the disclaimer by CIDCO holds no ground.

"Nobody has any right to even touch any CRZ1 category plot and CIDCO cannot sell something that it does not own. It is, therefore, patently wrong on part of CIDCO to collect payment from the bidder for CRZ-designated parts of the plot," said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation.

Sanjay Baliram Sandanshiv, under-secretary and scientist-ll in the State Environment and Climate Change department, filed the affidavit at NGT confirming the plot’s CRZ status.

The CRZ notification 2011 defines CRZ1 as the land from the high tide line to 500 mtrs on the landward side along the seafront, Sandanshiv confirmed. The final demarcation of the CRZ status is however to be done by an agency authorised by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Control (MOEFCC).

NMMC planned civic centre, open ground on same plot

Another catch is that the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has in its draft development plan (DP) marked the same plot for civic centre and open ground. This was also pointed out by CIDCO in its counter to the petitions before NGT, Kumar said.

At NatConnect’s instance, the MOEFCC has thrice over asked the state environment department to look into the issue and report back. The notice has been sent “with the approval of Competent Authority”, Dr H Kharkwal, scientist at MOEFCC, said in his mail.

The plot falls within CRZ-IA and CRZ-II. A thick patch of mangroves is located in close proximity to the plot and, in fact, part of the land is located within the mangrove buffer zone, the joint application to NGT by Rekha Sankhala, Manmeet Singh Khurana, Ritu Mittal, R K Narayan, Mahendra Singh Panghaal and Anjali Agarwal, said.

NMEPS also said the plot is designated as a “No Development Zone” under the Development Plans of 2011 and 2020 and it falls on the seaward side of the existing road. The next NGT hearing is slated for December 20.

Kumar lamented that the government-owned agency is indulging these kinds of practices. The MCZMA has already declined permission for development of a 1950 sq mtr CRZ1 plot at Dronagiri in Navi Mumbai. The plot has been allotted to a project affected family under the government’s plan to compensate the people who surrendered their lands for the city’s development.

Published on: Friday, December 16, 2022, 03:11 PM IST