Activist opposes Bandra Reclamation project, says MSRDC can't act as private landholder

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

MUMBAI: Activist Zoru Darayus Bhathena on Tuesday filed a rejoinder in the Bombay high court with regards to his April 2024 petition questioning the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation's (MSRDC) decision to allocate 24 acres in Bandra Reclamation to Adani Realty for commercial development. The plot is located close to the Bandra Worli Sea Link (HT Photo)
The rejoinder contended that the 24 acres were part of a 57-acre plot which comes under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and thus, cannot be exploited for commercial use. The MSRDC cannot act as a private landowner as the land came into being for the purpose of the Bandra Worli Sea Link – a public project, it said. The original petition, filed in April 2024, was also in force to restrain the MSRDC and other respondents from using the plot in a manner that was legally impermissible and contrary to public interest, the rejoinder stated.
The rejoinder was necessitated as the Adani group firm that won the bid to develop the plot had claimed in court that the land belonged to the MSRDC and the corporation had allowed its commercial exploitation. The MSRDC too had contended that a writ directing it to use the land in a particular way was not maintainable as the land no longer fell within the CRZ area.
The prime land parcel located along the Bandra Worli Sea Link approach road faces the Mahim Bay and is valued at an estimated ₹ 30,000 crore. It currently houses a casting yard and the MSRDC office, and it has been allocated for commercial and residential use as per the Development Control and Promotion Regulations, 2034.
In the detailed affidavit submitted on Tuesday, Bhathena disputed claims in the tender for commercial development of the plot, which said the project area was confined to 24 acres of land 'freely available for development'. The 24 acres were part of the 57-acre plot which Bathena's original petition had mentioned, and commercial exploitation of even the 24 acres was not allowed as the entire plot was located in the CRZ area where such development was prohibited, the affidavit said.
Bathena claimed that the land was previously owned by the state government and it was vested with the MSRDC via an order dated January 30, 2018. Several conditions were imposed on MSRDC when the land was transferred, including obtaining prior approvals for any development on the plot from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF).
'By seeking to restrain MSRDC from acting contrary to the conditions, which were clearly intended for public benefit and which are now brazenly being breached by MSRDC, I merely seek to enforce against MSRDC covenants on the basis of which the land was granted to it,' Bhathena submitted in court.
The affidavit further stated that the MSRDC was permitted to reclaim the land on the express assurance that it would be kept open and developed as a 'green area'. Conditions were incorporated in the environmental clearance on the ground that only a road would be constructed and the remaining portion would be left open.
Bhathena told the court that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had, in its reply to the court on March 6, 2025, stated that the land was under the Coastal Regulation Zone. The civic body had referred to the land as 'no development zone' within the CRZ II-Greater Mumbai area.
'Even assuming whilst denying that the land falls outside the CRZ area, the commercial exploitation of the land still remains prohibited,' said Bathena.
He submitted that Mumbai has just 1.1 square meters (about 1 square foot) of open space per person as compared to the recommended 10 square meters. If commercial exploitation of the land which was reclaimed on the express assurance that it would be kept open and green was permitted, yet another precious public resource would stand appropriated in favour of private interests, he said.
HT reached out to the Adani group for comments on the development, but there was no response from the company.