Balaji temple in CRZ? NGT permits greens to file fresh appeal

Environmental groups are challenging the allotment of a 40,000 sq mtr plot by CIDCO for the temple at Ulwe in Navi Mumbai claiming that the area is an ecologically sensitive zone.

NAVI MUMBAI

Balaji temple in CRZ? NGT permits greens to file fresh appeal

The Ulwe Tirupati Balaji temple case has taken a new turn with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) permitting an environment group to file a new application against the Coastal regulation Zone nod granted by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA).

NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar had filed the original application in November last year, challenging the allotment of a 40,000 sq mtr plot by CIDCO for the temple at Ulwe in Navi Mumbai claiming that the area is an ecologically sensitive zone.

He said that the plot is part of a temporary casting yard constructed for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL).

Kumar also pleaded with the Tribunal to direct the MCZMA not to give the CRZ nod.

The applicant complained that construction for the temple began with the Bhoomipujan by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis in June last year despite the environmental concerns.

The bench - comprising judicial member justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Dr. Vijay Kulkarni – had asked MCZMA to report if the construction has begun.

During the hearing on January 12, the Bench discussed the MCZMA’s site inspection report which said only a platform was built for the Bhoomipujan.

It also confirmed that it has given a conditional CRZ permission to the project proponent Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) vide a letter dated November 20, 2023.. MCZMA also stated that the plot is part of the temporary casting yard built for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL).

The Bench observed that the prayer to direct MCZMA not to give the CRZ clearance was thus infructuous.

Kumar’s counsel Ronita Bhattacharya pointed out that the MCZMA letter is still not in public domain. Moreover, the Authority has permitted construction of a compound wall and lawn in the mangrove buffer zone of 50 metres.

The Bench in its order noted that Bhattacharya has given her consent for filing a fresh application against the CRZ nod.

Later, Kumar pointed out that the MCZMA for the first time admitted at the NGT that the temple plot is part of the temporary casting yard. This aspect was, however, not discussed in the MCZMA’s meeting that recommended the clearance. The minutes of the meeting do not reflect this at all, he said

Kumar has stated in his application that he is not opposed to the temple project per se, but stressed that it should not come up in ecologically sensitive coastal zone.

It is sad that government agencies are leasing out plots along the coast when the global concerns over rising sea levels are being regularly sounded, Kumar said and asked if such projects would be safe.

He argued that the google earth maps of 2018, prior to the landfill done for the temporary casting yard, clearly show the intertidal influential areas and wetlands in the same area.

“We are in consultation with our legal counsel on filing a fresh application shortly,” he said.

Nandakumar Pawar, president of Maharashtra Small Scale Fishermen Union, said the fishing community has been badly impacted with CIDCO liberally leasing out the coastal areas, including the sensitive CRZ1 that it does not own.

CIDCO is hell bent on ruining all eco-sensitive zones, Pawar alleged and vowed to fight tooth and nail.

CIDCO has repeatedly refused to comment on the issue.