Environment group flags reclamation of CRZ areas for waterfront projects

Environmentalists have once again raised red flags over the reclamation of mangroves, mudflats and other ecologically sensitive intertidal areas along Thane Creek in Navi Mumbai

Environmentalists have once again raised red flags over the reclamation of mangroves, mudflats and other ecologically sensitive intertidal areas along Thane Creek in Navi Mumbai. They alleged reclamation continues unabated despite multiple letters to authorities flagging violation of coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) rules in the area.

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The latest location to be affected by such reclamation — which has been carried in out in patches since 2017 when construction work on the Thane Waterfront Project began — is the creek front near Saket Ground and Biodiversity Park, a kilometre of which has been buried under rubble and debris, according to city-based environment group Vanashakti.

“The entire stretch of the creek has been reclaimed and a wall has been made inside creeklets... On the other side of the road, huge stretches of mangroves and intertidal areas have been reclaimed and dead transplanted tree trunks are visible. Reclamation and dumping of debris and waste is seen on both sides of the road. Dumping of debris and work is going on in CRZ-1 areas, within 50 metres of mangroves and on mangroves at many places,” Vanashakti wrote in a letter dated May 29 to the environment department, mangrove cell and revenue department.

In a separate letter titled Objection to reclamation of mudflats and inter tidal areas for waterfront and beautification projects, addressed to the environment department and Cidoco, Vanashakti clarified they “have no intention of preventing the use of waterfront areas for recreation, but the constructions and reclamation cannot happen inside high tide line”. “We have objected to the violations and time and again, but the local bodies say Maritime Board has given permission,” the letter read.

The letter was prompted by legislator Manda Mhatre’s announcement on May 20 that work on a marina waterfront in Navi Mumbai’s Belapur area is soon to commence. Together with a jetty, the marina project is expected to boost tourism along a network of waterfront destinations in Mumbai, Raigad and Thane including Bhaucha Dhakka and Elephanta Caves, among others. The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had given CRZ clearance for the project in March 2019.

“We have observed that MCZMA gives permissions for constructions in CRZ with a general rider in general conditions that states that work should be in accordance with the provisions of the CRZ notification. Beyond that there is no specific directions given. We also find a condition that mangroves will not be destroyed and that permission of the Bombay high court must be obtained to destroy mangroves,” wrote Vanashakti. However, despite these clauses, which were also present in the clearance for Thane waterfront development, rampant reclamation of intertidal areas within the high tide line still continues, pointed out Stalin D, director of Vanashakti.

The problem, experts said, is that simply curbing mangrove destruction is not enough to protect mudflats and associated intertidal ecosystems.

“We request you to specify that no reclamation or construction will be done inside the approved high tide line. The loss of intertidal areas in such projects means that entire stretches of biologically active mudflats are permanently buried... The destruction that has happened in Thane must not be repeated in Navi Mumbai,” Vanashakti wrote. The group also called upon the Maharashtra Maritime Board to exercise restraint and ensure that they do not permit projects that need extensive reclamation and destruction of intertidal biodiversity.