Coastal Road: BMC yet to pay forest department ₹74 crore for marine conservation

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not fully complied with the terms of coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance granted to its coastal road project, as it is yet to deposit at least ₹74 crore with the state forest department for “conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity”

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not fully complied with the terms of coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearance granted to its coastal road project, as it is yet to deposit at least ₹74 crore with the state forest department for “conservation of coastal and marine biodiversity”. As per a special condition laid down by the union environment ministry’s CRZ expert appraisal committee in 2017, the BMC is required to pay the Mangrove Foundation of Maharashtra 2% of the project cost to offset the Coastal Road’s environment impact.

As per a special condition laid down by the union environment ministry’s CRZ expert appraisal committee in 2017, the BMC is required to pay the Mangrove Foundation of Maharashtra 2% of the project cost to offset the Coastal Road’s environment impact.

Officials in the BMC’s coastal roads department, including the chief engineer, deputy chief engineer and executive engineer, did not respond to calls seeking comment on Sunday.

Officials in the state forest department’s mangrove cell, however, confirmed that the BMC is yet to pay this amount in entirety. They also said that the BMC has not officially conveyed to the forest department their total cost of the project as on date, making it difficult to exact the payable amount as per updated project costs.

“We have asked the BMC to deposit ₹254 crore with us, which is two percent of the total project cost of about ₹12,700 crore, based on newspaper reports. I do not know how much the total project cost is because the BMC has never intimated us about the same,” said Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forests (APCCF), mangrove cell. Of the ₹254 crore, the BMC has so far deposited only ₹150 crore, despite it being mandatory for the entire amount to be paid “on or before commencement of construction”.

In 2017, when the project cost was estimated to ₹5,303 crore, the forest department had written to the BMC in June that year asking the latter to deposit a sum of ₹106.6 crore as per the conditions of the CRZ clearance. Of this, the BMC deposited an initial tranche of ₹25 crore on June 12, 2019. Due to escalation of the project cost, the amount to be paid toward coastal and marine conservation has also increased. In October 2020, Tiwari wrote to the environment department with the subject “Non-compliance of... CRZ clearance awarded to MCGM for Mumbai Coastal Road project”.

Soon after the MCZMA allowed the additional land to be reclaimed (on December 2) in a post-facto approval, the BMC deposited another tranche of ₹150 crore with the Mangrove Foundation on December 11, 2020, leaving an outstanding of ₹74 crore. The entire amount is to be added to the corpus fund of the Mangrove Foundation, which generates a certain amount of interest every year that is used in running the organisation (which is an autonomous society under the state forest department).

“This is a clear violation of the terms of the CRZ clearance, which clearly said that the amount should have been deposited before commencement of construction. The BMC has had to be reminded on multiple occasions, in June 2017 and then February 2019, to deposit the money. The BMC did not show any intention of paying the amount until they needed permission to reclaim additional land,” said Devendra Tandel, president of the Akhil Maharashtra Machimaar Kruti Samiti (AMMKS), who obtained these details via RTI last week.

This alleged violation is the third in a string of non-compliances that fisherfolk and experts have highlighted in recent weeks, amid protests by Worli fisherfolk against the project. Over 100 boats from Worli Koliwada have been parked in the alignment of the Coastal Road-Sea Link interchange since early Saturday, disrupting construction work. Fishers have alleged that the project will cut them off from their customary fishing grounds and will force them to shut down Cleveland Bunder, an artisanal fishing port in Worli Koliwada which is at least a 100 years old and houses between 40 to 60 boats. They also say that movement of barges and tugboats in their customary waters has damaged over 60 fishing nets, each costing between ₹70,000 to 1,00,000, and disrupted their activities.

In a letter to authorities including the chief minister on October 25, Koli community leaders from the Worli Koliwada Nakhwa Vyavsay Sahakari Society (WKNVSS) wrote, “One of the specific conditions of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) clearance dated January 4, 2017, was as follows: ‘BMC to ensure that no fishing activity is hampered during construction and operation phase of the project’. Thereafter the final CRZ clearance dated May 11, 2017, was granted by the MoEFCC (Union environment ministry), subject to the following specific condition: ‘Bridges with navigable spans will be provided by the project proponent as committed, so that there are no obstructions to fishing boats’.”

In an earlier development, the Akhil Maharashtra Machimaar Kruti Samiti (AMMKS), a state-wide fishworkers’ collective, which has pledged their support to Worli Koliwada’s fisherfolk, also took up this issue with the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The latter had in March 2017 provided a no objection certificate (NOC) for the coastal road project to BMC, which is subject to compliance with 14 statutory conditions. “In the 14th condition, MSRDC clearly wrote that if fisherfolk are obstructed from doing their business, and if fisherfolk recorded any objections, it will be considered as violating the terms of the NOC,” said Devendra Tandel, president, AMMKS.

The BMC has also been accused of violating the NOC given to the Coastal Road project by the fisheries department, which contains a similar clause. “Despite all these clearances, which assured fisherfolk that our livelihoods will not be impacted, what has transpired in reality is the complete opposite. We will continue our protest and not allow construction work to continue until our demands for a redesign of the coastal road-sea link interchange is met,” said Nitesh Patil, president, WKNVSS.

A senior official in the fisheries department, however, said they are aware of the NOC violation by the BMC and will be deliberating on the matter in the next few days. “If there is a violation, an appropriate resolution will be found for the fishermen,” the official said, seeking anonymity.