Centre refuses to give CRZ nod to 500 Mumbai buildings

There are 500 buildings in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai that were built without Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance, just like the controversial 31-storey Adarsh tower in Colaba. Ketaki Ghoge reports.

There are 500 buildings in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai that were built without Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance, just like the controversial 31-storey Adarsh tower in Colaba.

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These buildings are illegal under the environment laws, and their fate is now hanging in balance with the Union environment ministry refusing to regularise them.

CM Prithviraj Chavan had made a case for their regularisation before Union environment minister Jayanthi Nata-rajan on Thursday.

However, Natarajan’s team of environment officials did not accept the proposal, pointing out that the existing law does not permit regularisation, and that the state authorities were clearly in connivance with developers when the violation occurred.

The CRZ violations in these 500 buildings came to light after the municipal corporations of both cities started cracking down on illegal buildings.