Supreme Court stays Bombay HC order, paves way for reclamation of land for coastal road

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde stayed the Bombay High Court order that quashed the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance granted for the southern part of the coastal road project in Mumbai. This apex court has paved the way for the reclamation of land for the proposed road. Bombay HC, in its order on July 16, 2019, had observed that there was a serious lacuna in the decision-making process and a lack of proper scientific study. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had filed the plea challenging the Bombay HC order.  

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A project worth Rs.12,000 crore

The BMC is executing the ambitious 29.2 km coastal road project which aims to connect the Marine Drive area in south Mumbai to Borivali in north Mumbai. The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, Expert Appraisal Committee and the Ministry of Environment and Forest gave the green signal to the project in 2017. The petitioners who approached the Bombay HC against the proposed coastal road contended that there was a possibility of the marine life being destroyed which could hurt the livelihood of fishermen. The project is estimated to be worth Rs.12,000 crore.  

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Shiv Sena welcomes SC decision

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena- the ruling party in Maharashtra officially welcomed this development. Commenting on this, Worli MLA and Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray revealed that the coastal road was a dream project of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. He opined that it would benefit the city of Mumbai. Furthermore, he promised that the project would be completed in a time-bound manner by the BMC. Incidentally, Congress who is a constituent of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi has raised questions over the scheme in the BMC.  

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(With ANI inputs)

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