NGT admits petition against Mumbai's Aksa Beach seawall violation case

Taking note of the adverse impact of the seawall being built by Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) at Aksa Beach at Malad in Mumbai, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has admitted an application filed by environmentalists challenging the structure.

“Prima facie, we find that substantial question relating to adverse impact on the environment is made out,” the western bench of the NGT remarked in its order on Monday after hearing out the advocate for applicants – B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation and Zoru Bathena, a Mumbai-based activist.

Kumar and Bathena moved the Tribunal pointing out that the anti-nature seawall violates the CRZ1 norms as it is being built in the middle of the beach. It also violates the clearance given by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) which clearly prohibited any construction on the beach but allowed “beautification” only on the landward side of the beach and CRZ2.

MMB counsel Saket Mone, who has earlier claimed that the Board had all necessary clearances, filed an affidavit with the NGT as per the latter’s order. He quoted the CRZ clearance dated March 4, 2019.

During the hearing on Monday, applicants’ advocate Ronita Bhattacharya pointed out that the CRZ clearance that MMB quoted was conditional. The MCZMA clearly said that no solid construction should be done in the intertidal area.

Bhattacharya also drew the Bench’s attention to the photographic evidence that the wall was built in the middle of the beach, close to the sea waves. The structure would have an adverse impact on the environment.

The Bench – comprising Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh as judicial member and Dr. Vijay Kulkarni as expert member – issued notices to the MCZMA, the State Environment Department and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) to file their responses within four weeks.

The application pointed out that NatConnect had earlier written to the MOEFCC drawing its attention to the anti-nature wall. The Ministry asked the MCZMA to look into the issue and report which was still awaited.

Also Read | Greens move NGT to save Mumbai’s Aksa Beach from killer beautification

While MMB claimed in its submission to the MCZMA that the wall was required for preventing erosion in the beach, the Authority noted that the sea-walls and the bunds are widely considered to be “antithetical to preservation of beaches and protection against flooding”.

The Authority also felt that the beach may be eroded due to the solid construction on the beach, Bhattacharya said quoting MCZMA minutes.

Yet, MMB went ahead and completed the construction of 600 mtr X 4 mtr wall splitting the picturesque beach into two, she said and pleaded for revocation of all clearances given to the Board.

The counsel told the Bench earlier that the seawall also goes against a ban imposed by an NGT’s Special Bench in a Puducherry beach case.

The next hearing is slated for September 4.