The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) approved applications by house owners in Mumbai allowing them to expand their buildings.
This includes the bungalows of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
The house owners filed the applications earlier after the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) regulations were relaxed in 2019, allowing for the construction of new buildings near the Mumbai coast.
However, the 2019 MCZMA notification weakening the regulations has been challenged before the National Green Tribunal, which agreed to hear the petitions and sought responses from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan get approval to expand their bungalows
Tendulkar's house is on Perry Cross Road, near Bandra's Carter Road shoreline, and is under CRZ II.
Tendulkar intends to develop the partial fourth floor into an entire floor and a full fifth floor. The bungalow currently has ground plus three floors and a part fourth floor for residential use. Prior to the 2019 notification, the expansion was not permitted under the floor space index (FSI).
“Addition/alteration in the existing bungalow with part 4th and full 5th floor is permitted subject to existing FSI norms and other regulations as on date of publication of CRZ Notification, 2019,” the authority said in its recent order.
The Bachchan family has also requested permission to expand their home Kapol Society in Juhu Vile Parle, which has a basement, ground floor, and two upper floors.
Jaya Bachchan moved an application to build the entire second floor, which is currently only partially built, as well as an additional floor for residential use.
Several petitions were filed by various petitioners against the CRZ dilution before the Bombay High Court, which were redirected to the NGT.
Among other things, the notification reduced the no development zone (NDZ) along the sea coast from 200 metres to 50 metres. The CRZ along the rivers has also been reduced from 100 metres to 50 metres.
