Salt pan land may make way for ‘Customs Enclave’

Proposed to be built at a cost of ₹2003 crore, the total residential and commercial population of the project is 6,948 individuals. The project will also create parking space for a total of 1,483 vehicles, both four and two-wheelers. Around 51 acres of the 55-acre plot will be developed.

Mumbai: A sprawling residential and commercial complex is set to come up on 55 acres of salt-pan land in Wadala East, pending environment clearance. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has sought the clearance on behalf of the Customs Department, Government of India, which plans to establish an office building there along with six towers. The project will house 769 residential quarters for employees of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs.

According to documents submitted to the state environment department for consideration of EC, the land under question -- CTS No. 146, Salt Pan Division -- falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)-II category, which refers to areas which have already been developed up till the shoreline of the coast, and where building restrictions have been recently lifted under the provisions of CRZ Notification, 2019.) (Aalok Soni/HT PHOTO)

Proposed to be built at a cost of ₹2003 crore, the total residential and commercial population of the project is 6,948 individuals. The project will also create parking space for a total of 1,483 vehicles, both four and two-wheelers. Around 51 acres of the 55-acre plot will be developed.

According to documents submitted to the state environment department for consideration of EC, the land under question -- CTS No. 146, Salt Pan Division -- falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)-II category, which refers to areas which have already been developed up till the shoreline of the coast, and where building restrictions have been recently lifted under the provisions of CRZ Notification, 2019. The sprawling project site, under the ownership of the Customs Department, can be viewed easily from the Eastern Express Highway, to the left as one drives toward south Mumbai after crossing Wadala’s Bhakti Park area.

Environmentalists, however, have warned against reclaiming the city’s salt-pan lands in this manner. “By definition, a salt pan lies in the area between the high-tide and low-tide line where construction is not permitted. It needs to be investigated as to how this land has come to be categorised as CRZ-II. There is a maxim that a party having done wrong cannot benefit from their own illegality. Over the last decade, this land has been slowly reclaimed and mangroves concertedly destroyed to change its nature,” said Debi Goenka, executive trustee, Conservation Action Trust (CAT), who is familiar with the project.

Hindustan Times was unable to contact Satya Pal Singh, CPWD’s executive engineer overseeing the project. However, submissions made by the CPWD to the state environment department state, “The existing land use pattern is residential. There will be no change in land use pattern due to the proposed project.” To be sure, the project will require separate CRZ clearance, which is under process.