State govt gives nod for reclaiming 19 hectares of land at Versova Beach

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has given its nod, under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, for reclaiming 19 hectares of land at Versova Beach for setting up a fishing harbour

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has given its nod, under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, for reclaiming 19 hectares of land at Versova Beach for setting up a fishing harbour. Hindustan Times (March 22) was the first to report on the proposal, being carried out under the Centre’s Sagarmala initiative.

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The reclamation work is largely for the construction of two breakwaters that will jut out more than a 1km into the sea. The area between the breakwater will act as a basin for boats, around 13.5 hectares in area, and will be able to service a fleet of 900 vessels, including 500 trawlers and 400 bag or gill-net fishing vessels. In 2019, Versova harboured a fleet of 846 mechanised fishing vessels comprising 411 trawlers, 395 bag-net and 40 gill-net vessels.

The project is spread over 32.8 hectares, involving reclaimed land of 19.19 hectares, in CRZ-1 and CRZ-4 areas. “This is completely unnecessary. The infrastructure can be provided onshore without having to dredge the intertidal area. Versova Beach has become prone to severe erosion due to the construction of Coastal Road in the south. In the last two years, the beach has already been reclaimed for a nonsensical ‘anti-erosion’ wall. We can’t afford to lose more of it,” said Stalin D, environmentalist and director of city-based NGO Vanashakti.

“The fishing population in the study area faces several challenges that have impacted their livelihood to a great extent. The fishermen complain about lack of basic facilities. About 84% fishermen families in the study area come under BPL category, upliftment of the families from BPL to APL category is required for the overall development of the fishermen families. To boost the incomes from fishermen, proposed fishing harbour should be started as soon as possible,” the MCZMA has noted in the minutes of its last meeting (made public on Monday), in which it recommended the project to the Centre for approval.

However, the authority also noted the project’s possible impact on the adjoining Versova Creek, and emphasised that “all necessary environmental measures at stipulated in Environment Impact Assessment should be implemented in letter and spirit”, along with design recommendations of the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), which conducted the preliminary “ship tranquility study” for the project.