PIL to save Mumbai wetland: High court issues notice to BMC but does not stay landfilling
"We have taken cognisance of the issue because it's a genuine issue. We will do whatever is possible. Don't doubt our powers to undo a thing which is done," said Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Makarand Karnik, adding that parties will have to be heard.
The judges also issued notices to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Konkan Wetland Committee.
Advocate Tushad Kakalia, representing petitioner-activist Zoru Bhathena, urged the court that pending the hearing, it "direct that no further filling is done".
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He said the plot "is a wetland and appears in the Wetland Atlas (of the central govt), a compendium of all wetlands across the country".Bhathena's petition, filed last year, stated that the low-lying plot is over 472 acres. In Nov 2023, BMC granted sanction to Beeline Impex Pvt Ltd and Pearl Coschem Pvt Ltd, who claim to be owners of a part of the land, for the "development of compound wall/fencing work and filling work".
On a complaint about landfilling of the plot, Bhathena's search revealed that nearly 9.8 acres of land along the plot's perimeter and adjoining mangroves were previously filled to block the free flow of intertidal water into the plot "to fool satellite imagery to report a misleading high tide line". The plot is in coastal regulation zone (CRZ)-1, where development is prohibited, and is reflected in development plans of 1991 and 2034. Bhathena cited high court and Supreme Court orders that ban the reclamation of wetlands.
In his reply, the director of the two companies denied that it is a low-lying plot affected by tidal waters or that it appears in the Wetland Atlas as an intertidal mud flat surrounded on all sides by mangroves. He said Bhathena is "trying to stall development on the subject land" by suggesting it is included in Wetland Rules and CRZ regulations.
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