Protected land reserved for MNLU campus in Goregaon

The Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU) is facing controversy over its new campus in Mumbai, as the land allocated for the campus is protected under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules. The land was previously reserved as a "natural area" but was changed to a "residential area" by the urban development department. The land was previously designated as CRZ-1 and was subject to prior orders from the Union environment ministry. The MNLU claims that there were no mangroves visible on the land.

Mumbai: The urban development department (UDD) in May this year changed the reservation of 70-odd acres of land in Pahadi village, Goregaon East, from ‘natural area’ to ‘residential area’ in the city’s Development Plan (DP). This was done in favour of the Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai (MNLU), for setting up a new campus in the city.

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However, a closer look at the history of the larger 500-acre plot of land, along the banks of the Malad Creek, shows that it is protected from such development under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Rules, as well as prior orders of the Union environment ministry (MoEFCC), which had cancelled permissions given to a private developer to build a golf course and residential bungalows on the same plot.

A final MoEFCC order to this effect, dated September 2013, is with Hindustan Times. At the time, the Centre had found that “mangroves were destroyed for setting up of golf course” and directed the state government to restore the land, in response to litigation from the Bombay Environment Action Group (BEAG). Satellite imagery dating back to 1991 shows the consistent deforestation on the plot over the last three decades, with the plot being completely reclaimed by 1999.

The land in question, owned by the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Group and the Usha Madhu Development Cooperative Housing Society, was a CRZ-1 area in the earlier version of Mumbai’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), prepared as per the provisions of the CRZ Notification of 1991. However, in subsequent drafts of the CZMP -- which are publicly available and updated as recently as 2022 -- it is shown as ‘Open/Vacant Land’.

When asked about this, Abhay Pimparkar, chairman of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management (MCZMA), said he would not be able to comment on the matter as he is away on leave.

Notably, the plot was also considered for accommodating the Metro-3 car shed in 2020, and in 2019 for building a new Bombay high court complex.

“The environment ministry’s directions to restore the land to its original condition were not followed by the state government. The state government has instead been finding alternative ways to utilise the land in the form of a university, court and metro station. The land is CRZ-1A, and Mumbai’s earliest coastal zone maps show that it contains ‘mangroves interleaved with mudflats’ which were later destroyed by a developer to build a golf course and bungalows,” said Debi Goenka, executive trustee, Conservation Action Trust (CAT). “This is a blatant attempt on the part of the builder to keep the state government and the judges happy by offering them small portions of the 500-acre plot, while opening the door for construction on the balance areas with higher TDR and FSI to boot,” Goenka added.

To be sure, a state-level committee appointed by the Fadnavis government later concluded that there had been no destruction of mangroves on the plot between 2005 and 2018. However, this was after 2002, when the developer’s environment clearance was first suspended by the MoEFCC.

Anil Variath, registrar, MNLU, said, “We have no direct information of any such MoEFCC order, or of the plot being under CRZ. What we have been conveyed by the state government is that the plot does not fall under mangrove area. I have seen the plot recently. There were no mangroves visible there.”

Aseem Gupta, secretary, UDD, did not respond to requests for comment.