Mumbai coastal road project: No further reclamation until clearances says SC

The Supreme Court earlier this week reiterated that it is to reserve its order on the fate of the Mumbai coastal road project.

Moreover, the court indicated that it would not vacate its interim order permitting the reclamation of the sea strictly for the construction of the road. As per reports, Chief Justice S A Bobde stated that the clearance was for 90 hectares adding that anyone doing the construction work should be on notice that everything is subjected to the final order.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had earlier sought six more hectares from the sea for the completion of the Coastal Road Project in Mumbai after initially asking for 90 hectares of space. The civic body filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court for the same a couple of days back. Now, the BMC has filed a revised affidavit with the Supreme Court asking for an additional 15 hectares of sea space for the ambitious road project.

In the recent past, social activists have opposed this project claiming that it might cause serious damage to the marine biodiversity of the region, contrary to the BMC’s claims. Further, activists have said that the BMC has claimed excess land in areas like Worli and Haji Ali. However, for the coastal road project, the civic body had asked for over 90 hectares of reclamation, which the High Court had said could harm the corals.