Mumbai: No green assessment for Metro Bhavan; experts seek scrutiny

Despite being located within an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), the Metro Bhavan high-rise in Aarey Colony proposed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will not be subject to an environment impact assessment (EIA) or public hearing as part of the regulatory process for obtaining environmental clearance (EC), show public documents reviewed by Hindustan Times.

Despite being located within an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ), the Metro Bhavan high-rise in Aarey Colony proposed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will not be subject to an environment impact assessment (EIA) or public hearing as part of the regulatory process for obtaining environmental clearance (EC), show public documents reviewed by Hindustan Times.

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The pro forma documents, submitted to the state environment department by MMRDA while seeking EC for the proposed 32-storey skyscraper, also show that the project is being appraised by a state-level authority. Experts and environmentalists alleged this to be in variance with the law which mandates that the project be referred to the Union environment ministry for clearance.

“The purpose of demarcating an ESZ is to reduce anthropogenic stress on a protected area. The Metro Bhavan does exactly the opposite. Prima facie, it seems that the project proponent is evading the appropriate level of scrutiny. If sent to the ministry, it will rightly be considered a Category-A project, and impact assessment and public hearing will become mandatory. This could create a hurdle for the MMRDA,” said D Stalin, environmentalist and director, Vanashakti NGO. Stalin has filed three petitions relating to the Aarey dispute in the Supreme Court.

ECO-SENSITIVE ZONE

The proposed location of Metro Bhavan (Survey No. 598A, Goregaon East) lies inside a delineated eco-sensitive buffer zone around Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), which was notified by the ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) in December 2016.

“The ecological risks of any project in this area also have to be appraised by the ministry, not the state government,” Stalin added.

At the time, MoEFCC had also constituted a monitoring committee to implement and oversee the rules prescribed in the ESZ notification. The committee’s tasks include making recommendations on proposed changes in land use, regulating vehicular movement within the ESZ, reporting violations to the ministry, among others.

The ministry, in December 2016, had stated that any permissible activities under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification (2006), if proposed within the buffer zone of SGNP, “shall be scrutinised by the monitoring committee based on the actual site-specific conditions and referred to the Central government... for prior environmental clearances under the provisions of the said notification.”

“It is necessary to conserve and protect the area around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park as Eco-sensitive Zone from ecological and environmental point of view and to prohibit industries or class of industries... in the said ESZ,” states the ministry’s notification, a copy of which is available online.

However, MMDRA referred their Metro Bhavan project — proposal SIA/MH/MIS/188820/2020 on PARIVESH, a single-window online portal for processing environmental and CRZ clearances — to the state environment department on December 17, 2020.

Two regulatory bodies under the department — an expert appraisal committee (EAC) and an environment impact assessment authority — have since considered the proposal on February 17 and February 26 this year. HT had reported the development on March 7. Available minutes of their meetings do not reflect any instruction to refer the matter to the Centre.

“This is a deviation from the law. MoEFCC’s guidelines are very clear on what the protocol is. The ministry should ask the environment department to explain why they are appraising a proposal which is evidently not in their jurisdiction,” said Debi Goenka, executive trustee, Conservation Action Trust.

At least two senior officials in the MMRDA did not respond to a detailed request for comment. HT also contacted a deputy engineer with MMRDA, who is closely involved with the project, but they declined to speak.

In a response to HT last month, MMRDA had said, “Metro Bhavan is a permissible activity as per MoEF notification of December 2016. Permission of monitoring committee is essential as the subject plot is under ESZ. Application for accord of permission of monitoring committee submitted.”

Two monitoring committee members, including honorary wildlife warden Mayur Kamath and SGNP’s chief conservator of forests G Mallikarjuna, said they have not received such a proposal. When asked whether the Centre’s nod was mandatorily required for this project, committee members said they would follow the instructions of the ESZ notification when the matter comes to them.

Manisha Mhaiskar, principal secretary, environment, in a text message to HT said, “As of now, we have deferred the matter for several compliances including land use. The matter will be heard on merits once all compliances are submitted.”

ECOLOGICAL RISKS

MMRDA officials also did not respond to queries anddeclined to comment on the ecological impact of the project.

Experts, on the other hand, emphasised that Metro Bhavan will pose a major flood risk in the immediate vicinity. The earmarked two-hectare plot lies within the catchment of Oshiwara river and is riven by a perennial stream that carries storm-water out of Aarey Colony and into the river which flows onward to Malad Creek.

“Besides being located in a known leopard habitat, the project site also has a tributary of the Oshiwara river. Concretising the area around it will worsen flooding downstream in Mumbai’s suburbs,” said Sanjiv Valsan, organiser with Save Aarey movement and a resident of the area.

Aslam Saiyad, an environmentalist who has been documenting Mumbai’s rivers over last five years, added that concretising two hectares of forest land here may divert runoff onto the Western Express Highway in Goregaon, creating a major traffic bottleneck during heavy rains.

In addition to waterlogging, experts also expressed concerns over the building’s proximity to SGNP, which lies 3kms east of the proposed project site. Public documents show that MMRDA also plans to build a helipad atop Metro Bhavan at a height of 156 metres, along with parking for 365 vehicles and a capacity to house around 8,000 people.

“This level of human activity, especially development of aviation infrastructure, will put an incredible amount of pressure on the surrounding forest. Not to mention all the pollution that will be caused during the construction phase. Solid waste, sewage, construction dust and vehicular emissions in the area will go up exponentially. How can one allow this so close to a known wildlife habitat,” asked Stalin.

ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT PLAN

As per the documents reviewed by HT, MMRDA has categorised Metro Bhavan as a Category-B2 project under the EIA (2006), which means it will be cleared at the state-level and is also exempted from a public hearing and impact assessment.

Category-A projects are those requiring clearance from the Centre following conditions, while Category-B1 projects are cleared at the state level after EIA compliances. B2 project are required to produce only an environment management plan (EMP) which is less intensive, logistically and financially.

According to Zaman Ali — a lawyer who has litigated on several environmental matters before the Bombay high court and the western bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) — there is a specific condition under EIA 2006 which states that if any category-B project which falls within 5 kms of Protected Areas such as a national park or wildlife sanctuary, it mandatorily requires an appraisal by MoEFCC.

“If this is allowed in this manner, the Metro Bhavan project will have a cascading effect on land use change in the area. Other builders will then apply for permission for more commercial projects in and around Aarey. The location is clearly avoidable since MMRDA has enough vacant plots in centrally located areas such as their home node BKC,” said Ali.

Following rules for Category-B2 projects, MMRDA has allocated a capital expenditure of ₹351.5 lakh or 0.03% of the ₹972-crore budget toward EMP for Metro Bhavan.

As per the MoEFCC’s EIA Notification, an EMP comprises “all mitigation measures... to be undertaken during the construction, operation and the entire life cycle to minimise adverse environmental impacts as a result of the activities of the project. It would also delineate the environmental monitoring plan for compliance of various environmental regulations. It will state the steps to be taken in case of emergency such as accidents at the site including fire.”

Of the funds, ₹150 lakh will be spent on landscaping, ₹96 lakh on solar power infrastructure, ₹70 lakh on sewage treatment plants, ₹8 lakh on waste management and ₹7.5 lakh on rainwater harvesting equipment. In addition to this, MMRDA will incur an annual recurring cost of ₹39 lakh for operation and maintenance of this infrastructure.

But, in another alleged deviation from protocol, MMRDA’s EMP does not include a detailed monitoring plan to ensure its own compliance. It does not prescribe any budget for “adverse environmental impacts” such as air pollution or human-animal conflict. Moreover, it does not allocate any fund toward regular environmental audits, as required under the EIA Notification.

“Things like waste management, landscaping, rainwater harvesting... these are expected of any construction project today. So much so, they are built into the Bureau of Indian Standard’s National Building Code. It appears MMRDA has passed off routine expenses as part of its EMP,” said Stalin.