New rules a hurdle in BPCL’s plans

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has requested the state’s coastal authority to alter the management plans for Mumbai’s east coast to allow more projects.

The Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has requested the state’s coastal authority to alter the management plans for Mumbai’s east coast to allow more projects.

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At least 40% of BPCL’s current work is restricted owing to the change in norms.

During the last meeting of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), BPCL requested MCZMA to consider revising the coastal zone management plan (CZMP) to facilitate current, and implement future projects to ‘meet environment and business requirements’.

BPCL pointed out that the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms were revised from 1991 to 2011, which led to the problem. According to the request, Thane creek with areas around Sewri and Mahul were earlier demarcated as CRZ IV-B (water and the sea bed area between low tide line (LTL) at the bank of the tidal influence, extending from the mouth of the water body at the sea up to the influence of tide) that allowed construction with conditions.

However, after CRZ 2011 norms were published, the same areas were denoted as CRZ IV-A (water and sea bed area between the low tide line, up to 12 nautical miles on the seaward side) restricting construction.

“Accordingly, a 500m CRZ limit is demarcated at Mahul, Sewri area limiting construction opportunities. As a result, 40% of our refinery area is coming under CRZ limiting any work or expansion for our Mumbai operations,” said an official from BPCL.

The MCZMA minutes of the meeting read, “BPCL officials said their refinery was established at Mahul prior to inception of the CRZ notification 1991 and it requires modernization and expansion, which will
be held up due to CRZ regulations.”

MCZMA, however, said the matter was finalised and CZMP maps were developed based on clearances from the Union environment ministry earlier this year.

“The matter needs to be referred to the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Chennai. Upon receiving its recommendation, the National Coastal Authority in Delhi will be consulted,” said an MCZMA official.

“The process is overseen by the Centre and such changes cannot happen easily.”

Scientists and environmentalists were furious with BPCL’s request. “Development projects are not the parameter for modifying CZMP. It is protection of the coastline and ecology, which should be the priority,” said Stalin D, director, Vanashakti.

“The impact of sea level rise will be felt much more for coastal zones currently witnessing excess development. For the safety of cities without climate resilient infrastructure, new constructions need to be curtailed,” said E Vivekanandan, former principal scientist at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute.