CIDCO allots CRZ plot for rugby, greens raise red flag

“We have absolutely no issue in CIDCO promoting sports which is a must, but it should not play with the environment by burying a CRZ1B area,” NatConnect Foundation said in its complaint to chief minister Eknath Shinde and the high court-appointed wetland committee

NAVI MUMBAI Another plot allotted by CIDCO for a rugby ground in Navi Mumbai has run into coastal regulation zone (CRZ) controversy with environmentalists red-flagging it to the chief minister Eknath Shinde and the high court-appointed wetland committee.

CIDCO allots CRZ plot for rugby, greens raise red flag

Environmentalists allege that CIDCO continues to destruct wetlands, which has buried over 10-acre intertidal water body in Kharghar’s Sector-25 and allotted over three acres of it for a rugby ground.

Intertidal area is designated as CRZ1B by the CRZ notification of 1991 issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Environment Change (MOEFCC).

“We have absolutely no issue in CIDCO promoting sports which is a must, but it should not play with the environment by burying a CRZ1B area,” NatConnect Foundation said in its complaint to chief minister Eknath Shinde and the high court-appointed wetland committee.

Satellite maps and ground study clearly show that the area is an intertidal wetland with water around the reclaimed plot with the creek at a stone’s throw away, NatConnect director B N Kumar said in his complaint.

Kharghar Wetlands and Hills group convenor Nareshchandra Singh, citing the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre map, pointed out that the reclaimed area in Sector 25 clearly falls in CRZ. As per the revenue department map, the rugby plot is covered by survey numbers 261, 262, 267, 268 and 270 of Taloje Phanchanand village. The coastal regulation zone (CRZ) map confirms the status, he said.

“It is unfortunate that CIDCO has ignored all these and allotted the plot for a rugby ground,” Singh said and wondered as to what CIDCO plans to do with the rest of the seven acres reclaimed from the intertidal wetlands. The least CIDCO could do is now to save the land in the high tide line, he said.

Kumar pointed out that the high tide line runs through the plot which the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) cannot ignore.

This is nothing but continuation of CIDCO’s anti-environment policy of allotting wetlands and mangrove zones for development, NatConnect said.

CIDCO had recently floated for sale a 25,000 sq mtr CRZ dominated plot at Nerul and allotted a similar area for Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s (NMMC) super speciality hospital. Earlier, it allotted a mangrove zone for Tirupati Balaji temple, Kumar recalled.

It is unfortunate that when the world is worried over the rising sea levels and warning of coastal erosion, CIDCO is going for increased construction into the sea, NatConnect regretted.

Kharghar-based activist Jyoti Nadkarni said the reclamation appeared to be a systematic and planned affair with the dumping of debris on the wetland. Local youth started playing cricket after levelling the debris.

She also drew attention to the man-made bunds all around the creek, obviously to bury more and more of the wetland.

Kumar wondered and called for restoration of the wetlands to their original status.

CIDCO did not comment till the time of going to the press.