The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has directed the Raigad district collector to probe into the allegations of CRZ violations in the execution of the Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (PMAY) scheme in Navi Mumbai. This follows a complaint filed by NatConnect Foundation on PMO Public Grievance website that the PMAY projects, particularly in Mansarovar and Kharghar areas, have come up in proximity of mangroves, mudflats and inter-tidal wetlands. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has then asked the MCZMA to probe into the issue.
NatConnect director B N Kumar said, in fact, the compound wall of the Kharghar project, on the northern side of the railway station, almost touches the mangroves with the distance between the sea plants and the project being 8 metres to 25 metres. This is in violation of both the central and state clearances given for the projects, he argued.
The environmental clearance summary, issued by the MoEF&CC clearly stated that no mangroves will be affected during construction of the entire project and that the 50-meter buffer line has to be maintained. There is supposed to be thick vegetation of tall trees with foliage along the buffer line to mitigate any fugitive dust emission etc. towards the mangrove area.
The environmental clearances have been given post the state mangrove cell visits and with conditions that the mangrove zones should not be impacted. NatConnect attached the recent Google Earth picture and actual ground photographs to fortify its case.
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The 143rd meeting of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority held on February 4, 2020 clearly noted that the projects were partly under CRZ1 and hence CIDCO was prohibited from doing any construction in the 50 mtr mangrove buffer zone and to maintain a 100 mtr CRZ setback for the creek.
But the Kharghar project presents a worrying scene as the PMAY buildings have come up in the danger line, Kumar said.
“The compound wall will push the high tide line towards the Panvel creek and this is bound to cause flooding in other areas as water finds its own course and does not go by CIDCO walls,” Jyoti Nadkarni of Kharghar Hills and Wetland Forum said.
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“What is even more shocking is that the urban planners, in all their wisdom, appear to be constructing housing colonies into the sea at a time when the rising sea levels has become a major global concern,” she said. The environmentalists, therefore, call for a thorough on-the-spot inquiry and taking measures to save the people and properties.
“Afterall, it is the tax-payers’ hard earned money that goes as subsidies into the PMAY project,” NatConnect said and offered to accompany the probe teams and point out the violations. The Foundation’s concern is that the 10,000 people who will be accommodated at Kharghar project will permanently be under the threat of tidal wave attacks, Kumar said.