Mumbai : The BMC has filed three suggestions and objections to the Union Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change’s notification regarding the proposed coastal road project in Mumbai.
The ministry issued a draft notification in June that amends Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules to allow land reclamation and mangrove cutting along Mumbai’s coast to enable the construction of the road. It then opened the draft for the public’s suggestions and objections.
The BMC has objected to three points in the notification. The ministry’s notification allows the cutting of mangroves along sections of the proposed road, which would be built over them. The notification says that three times the number of mangroves destroyed must be replanted elsewhere. A senior civic official has expressed doubt on this pointer.
The BMC has instead suggested that it will replant two times the number of mangroves cut. A civic official said, “However, this is not really an issue. If the ministry insists on the clause, we will plant three times the number of mangroves. We will not let a technical clause delay the construction of the project.”
Secondly, the notification instructs that the coastal road construction must not affect the inter-tidal zone, while the BMC claims that the coastal road, as is presently envisaged, will affect the inter-tidal zone in some ways in certain places.
Besides, the notification also states that reclaimed land must not be used for any other construction apart from the construction of the road itself. However, sources informed that spaces need to be allotted to construct emergency management systems, communication systems and parking lots. These mechanisms are support structures for the road.
Eeshanpriya MS
