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Floating billboards flout CRZ norms: Coastal authority

ByPrayag Arora-Desai
Jan 04, 2023 10:51 PM IST

On the heels of repeated criticisms, environmentalist Zoru Bhatena last year sought information from the MCZMA on whether the authority had indeed sanctioned the enterprise, which is run by Juhu-based advertising company Zen Digital Media.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) recently said that floating billboards operating at two locations in the city – Juhu Beach and Bandra-Worli Sea Link – do not have coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) clearances. The coastal authority was responding to a right to information (RTI) request from an environmentalist.

On January 3, the MCZMA claimed it had no information on record about any clearances provided to the company. HT reached out to a spokesperson at Zen Digital Media, who said, “The Advertisement Vessels at Juhu and BWSL are self- propelled vessels constructed as per Inland Vessel Act 1917 and class certified (IRS). Our vessels are regular inland vessels like any other vessel... therefore, there is no construction, development, erection, or installation of any structure, neither on the shores nor in the water. Hence, we do not require NOC from MCZMA.” (HT PHOTO)
On January 3, the MCZMA claimed it had no information on record about any clearances provided to the company. HT reached out to a spokesperson at Zen Digital Media, who said, “The Advertisement Vessels at Juhu and BWSL are self- propelled vessels constructed as per Inland Vessel Act 1917 and class certified (IRS). Our vessels are regular inland vessels like any other vessel... therefore, there is no construction, development, erection, or installation of any structure, neither on the shores nor in the water. Hence, we do not require NOC from MCZMA.” (HT PHOTO)

On the heels of repeated criticisms, environmentalist Zoru Bhatena last year sought information from the MCZMA on whether the authority had indeed sanctioned the enterprise, which is run by Juhu-based advertising company Zen Digital Media.

On January 3, the MCZMA claimed it had no information on record about any clearances provided to the company. HT reached out to a spokesperson at Zen Digital Media, who said, “The Advertisement Vessels at Juhu and BWSL are self- propelled vessels constructed as per Inland Vessel Act 1917 and class certified (IRS). Our vessels are regular inland vessels like any other vessel... therefore, there is no construction, development, erection, or installation of any structure, neither on the shores nor in the water. Hence, we do not require NOC from MCZMA.”

Despite requests, copies of existing permissions from other authorities, including the BMC and Maharashtra Maritime Board, were not shared with HT on grounds that they are “confidential and proprietary in nature.”

“The entire coastline comes under the jurisdiction of the MCZMA,” Bhatena said. “If the agency does have such a letter, then how come MCZMA says they have no record of it? An illuminated signboard like this in sea waters is not a permitted activity under the Coastal Regulation Zone rules. The sea cannot be commercially exploited in this manner against the wishes of citizens. It must be stopped.”

First launched in March 2021, citizens have criticised the billboards for being an ‘eyesore’ against the city’s natural waterfront.

Last year, a netizen tweeted against the billboard in Juhu, saying, “Whoever conceived the idea must see a psychologist soon. Leave people alone with nature. Do not insert artificial elements in-between people and nature. They are obstructions. We do not need advertisements screaming on us from everything our eyes fall on.”

Another citizen posted, “Juhu beach has a billboard in the middle of the sea. As if buildings, roadsides, trains and metro were not enough. This huge digital screen... disrupts what little peace Mumbai has left... Why was this allowed?”

Several residents from the Juhu-Versova also took up the issue with Andheri West MLA Ameet Satam.

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