Mumbai: In response to a green group’s complaint, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed the Urban Development and Environment Departments to check and take appropriate action regarding the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) breaches in land allotment for the Tirupati Bala temple in Ulwe, Navi Mumbai.
Following confirmation from the Mangrove Cell that the construction of the temple encroached on a wetland intended for the Mumbai-Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, NatConnect Foundation contacted the Chief Minister as well as the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) on Thursday morning. “The chief minister's office responded in less than half an hour and marked the mails to Aseem Gupta, Principal Secretary-Urban development-1 and Pravin Darade, Principal Secretary, Environment,” said NatConnect director B N Kumar, while expressing hope for serious consideration from the officials into this matter.
The mangrove cell inspection report vindicated environmentalists' claims that the land allotment for the ₹70 crore temple at Ulwe is a violation of CRZ1 norms, leading the environmentalists’ to advocate for the cancellation of the CRZ permission and relocating the project. NatConnect Foundation states in their complaints to the Centre and the State governments that instead of restoring the the inter-tidal wetland, the contested area from the wetland and mangrove zone, originally designated as a casting yard for the MTHL bridge by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), was allotted to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
CIDCO’s responsibility to act
Based on comparisons between the spot and satellite maps prepared by the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application centres (MRSAC), Forester Bapu Gadade affirmed that the temple plot was formerly a wetland that underwent landfilling and found mangroves within a proximity of 40 to 45 mts from the plot. The inspection report also stated that it is CIDCO’s responsibility to act since the mangrove and wetland area remain under its control.
Kumar pointed out that this is yet another case of direct violation of the Bombay High Court's order to transfer all mangroves to the forest department for conservation. Despite the High Court-appointed Mangrove Committee, CIDCO continues to sit on hundreds of acres of mangroves. Notably, CIDCO has assigned 10 acres for the temple project, in a much debated CRZ1 zone.
The minutes of this meeting have yet to be published
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Control (MOEFCC) has requested the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) to investigate the NatConnect complaint and produce a report, which is still pending. On the contrary, MCZMA hastily granted CRZ approval for the project in a meeting held on May 23 with a singular agenda. The minutes of this meeting have yet to be published on the Authority’s website, prompting NatConnect to submit an Right To Information (RTI) Act application for access to this information.
Nandakumar Pawar, the head of Sagar Shakti, the marine division of Vanashakti, emphasised the ecological sensitivity of the Balaji Temple area and stressed that no construction should occur there. Once the casting yard operations concluded, Pawar proposed the restoration, rather than commercialisation, of the wetland and mangrove zone.
Despite the protests, Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the temple project on June 7, with Shinde declaring the project has been given environmental clearance.
