In gross negligence towards the environment, more than 4,000 acres of mangrove land across Maharashtra has been encroached upon, disturbing the ecological balance, environmentalists have alleged. However, it is difficult to confirm the exact area reclaimed as mangroves on existing coastlines grow themselves.
Environment activist BN Kumar attributed the surge in infrastructure projects in the coastal area to failure in implementing the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP). Under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of February 19, 1991, preparation of CZMP is mandatory to protect ecology and geomorphology of coasts.
In the last 33 years, the government has prepared three CZMPs, but none of them is accurate, as per the Conservation Action Trust (CAT), an NGO working to protect the environment. On Monday, CAT released a study report titled ‘Coastal Zone Management Plans — Tool for the Protection of Coastal Habitats, highlighting the deficiencies in preparation and publication of the CZMPs in Maharashtra.
“The state’s municipalities, bureaucracies, planning agencies, and statutory bodies continue to subvert regfiéfim_ifiqation of 1991, 2011, and 2019 with impunity, often taking advantage of incorrect CZMPs, public ignorance and a lethargic judiciary,” the report states.
The report was released in Mumbai by retired justice from Bombay High Court, Gautam Patel along with CAT trustee Debi Goenka, along with other experts. “The local Kolis (fishermen) were never adequately informed or educated about the CZMPs or consulted by the State Coastal Zone Management Authority,” the report states.
Some of the key observations in the report, which concentrate more on Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region are that no explanation is given on how the hazard line has been demarcated; mapping for CZMPs of 2011 has been carried out during December 2012-June 2013; and draft maps released in November 2017 without a reason for the delay. Goenka said, “While it may seem a case of erroneous mapping, such errors have major ramifications, especially in a coastal city like Mumbai.”
