The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) originally sought six more hectares from the sea for the completion of the Coastal Road Project in Mumbai after originally asking for 90 hectares of space. The civic body filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court for the same just some days ago. 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 its supplementary affidavit filed on Monday, the BMC informed the court as well as the petitioners that it will need to reclaim a total of 111 hectares of space and not 96 hectares as said in its previous affidavit.
It is worth noting that the new affidavit by the BMC comes after the Supreme Court asked the civic body on August 18 to provide clarifications on the land it is acquiring. This effectively means that the civic body has filed a total of two affidavits with increasing requirements in under two weeks.
The matter will now be heard by the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The civic body has said the increase in land reclamation is mostly due to the construction of the seawall which is partially submerged at the moment. This wall will reportedly keep waves and high tides from hitting the Coastal Road when completed, while also protecting the soil underneath from erosion.
Also Read - Mumbai Coastal Road Project Affects The Local Fishermen Of Haji Ali
The civic body has added that the seawall will be built using armour rocks that would maintain and improve biodiversity in the region while also being eco-friendly. The BMC further mentioned that it has received clearance from the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) for 90 hectares of land while the rest will be acquired only after requisite permissions are obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Social activists have opposed this project claiming that it may cause severe and irreparable 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.
“Why can’t the BMC decide how much area they are actually planning to reclaim? It seems the BMC is unable to calculate areas properly, or they are carrying out reclamation beyond what they have permission for. This is a very serious issue of transparency and accountability,” said Shweta Wagh, a conservationist and one of the petitioners against the civic body’s Coastal Road project.
The BMC, however, has denied these accusations in its most recent affidavit filed with the Supreme Court.
Also read - Citizen’s Group Alleges BMC Of Restarting Works On Coastal Road Project During The Lockdown
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