High court clears way for passenger, Ro-Ro jetties in Palghar and Thane

The Bombay high court (HC) recently cleared the way for the construction of the proposed passenger jetties at Kelwa and Kharekuran and Ro-Ro jetty at Kharwadashri in Palghar and Thane districts

The Bombay high court (HC) recently cleared the way for the construction of the proposed passenger jetties at Kelwa and Kharekuran and Ro-Ro jetty at Kharwadashri in Palghar and Thane districts.

With regards to the Ro-Ro jetty in Palghar, the MMB submitted to the high court that the MCZMA had granted permission to divert 0.478 hectares of mangrove area comprising 72 mangrove trees and the board would replant five times the number of mangroves being removed.

The court gave its nod to the projects by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) after it was informed that the mangroves to be cut for the projects were not much and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) had granted approvals.

The court, while refusing the request of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) to stay its order, directed the MMB to give an undertaking that it would strictly comply with the terms and conditions stipulated in the approvals for the projects.

The division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni, while hearing three petitions filed by MMB seeking the court’s permission for cutting mangroves that fell within the Coastal Zone Regulation-I (CRZ-I), where the projects were coming up, was informed by advocates Saket Mone and Subit Chakrabarti that the projects were of pure public utility and would benefit the citizens of Palghar.

The three projects consist of the passenger jetty at Kelwa near fishermen’s jetty, Kharwadshri Ro-Ro jetty and the Kharekuran passenger jetty in Thane district. While advocates had submitted that the project at Kelwa would not only benefit the citizens in the vicinity by increasing tourism but would also provide an eco-friendly travel option for the local industries without cutting any mangroves.

With regards to the Ro-Ro jetty, the MMB submitted that the MCZMA had granted permission to divert 0.478 hectares of mangrove area comprising 72 mangrove trees and the board would replant five times the number of mangroves being removed. The advocates for MMB further submitted that the environmental authorities had already given their approval as no mangroves would be cut.

The MMB further stated that it was willing to abide by the conditions stipulated by the MCZMA and SIEAA in its approvals and hence the court should permit the board to commence construction at the three sites.

Senior advocate Sharan Jagtiani for BEAG, however, objected to the petitions and said that the jetty at Kelwa could be constructed as an extension to the existing fishermen’s jetty, instead of having a fresh construction in the buffer zone.

The bench referred to the CRZ notification of 2011 and observed that activities related to the waterfront were expressly permitted and setting up of a jetty was not deemed as a prohibited activity. Hence, it cleared the way for the construction of the projects provided the board strictly adhered to the conditions.