HC halts Mumbai coastal road, orders Environmental Impact Assessment

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, July 16

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered a halt to work on the 29 km-long coastal road connecting Mumbai’s southern parts to its northwestern suburbs.

Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Judge NM Jamdar of the Bombay High Court set aside the Coastal Regulation Zone clearance under which the Maharashtra government had begun work on the road, which will be built by reclaiming land from the sea.

The ruled that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation needed to get an Environment Impact Assessment carried before work on the coastal road could begin again.

“We declare that the civic body cannot proceed with the works without obtaining an environmental clearance under EIA notification. Further, permission under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, should also be obtained,” the high court ruled.
In its order, the court said the project was rushed through without proper scientific study and there was serious lacuna in the decision making process.

“It is obvious that a serious lacuna has occurred in the decision-making process. We hold that there is lack of proper scientific study and this has been overlooked by Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), the EIA and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF),” the judges said.
The Bombay High Court also refused to grant stay on implementation of its order in order to allow the BMC to appeal before the Supreme Court.

Several petitioners, including fisherfolk who stood lose their beachfronts like the Worli Koliwada Nakhava Matsya Vyavasay Sahakari Society Limited and Worli Machimmar Sarvodaya Sahakari Society, had moved the Bombay High Court. The petitioners contended that they would lose their access to the sea and common areas to land reclamation.
They further contended that fish-breeding areas would be affected by the coastal road.

Environmental NGOs that filed a public interest litigation petition pointed out that the project would affect the marine diversity of Mumbai’s coast.