Adhere To Approved Land For Mumbai Coastal Road: SC to BMC

The Supreme Court, on October 7, 2020, said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the body responsible for building the ambitious Coastal Road project in the Maharashtra capital, would have to take fresh approvals and clearances, if it were to use additional land for the project. 

The observation by the top court came after the lawyer appearing for the Worli Koliwada Nakhwa Matsya Vyavasay Sahkari Society, informed it that the BMC was reclaiming excessive land which had reached 111 hectares, while it had clearance for only 90 hectares. As the proponents continued to change the qualitative profile of the project, leading to fresh development work for the Coastal Road plan, the BMC and the executioners ought to apply for fresh approvals, they told the court.

During the hearing, the SC, however, showed no inclination to reverse its order of 2019, through which it allowed the BMC and the project proponents to continue with land reclamation.

Recall here that the Worli Koliwada Nakhwa Matsya Vyavasay Sahkari Society had earlier moved the Bombay High Court against the project and obtained a stay order against it, in July 2019. On July 16, 2019, the Bombay High Court prohibited the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) from carrying out any further work on the Coastal Road and cancelled the environment clearance given to the ambitious Rs 14,000-crore project, saying there was a serious lacuna in the scientific study and decision-making.

In the petition filed by the society against the project, it had claimed that the reclamation work undertaken for the project was illegal and would alter coastal biodiversity and traditional ecological practices. The much-publicised eight-lane freeway would run along Mumbai's western coastline, connecting Marine Lines in the south to Kandivali in the north.

After the HC quashed the environmental clearances granted to the project, the BMC and project executioner, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, moved the SC, challenging the HC verdict. On December 17, 2019, the SC stayed the Bombay HC order, allowing work on the project to start, while also putting some caveats. It told the BMC to continue to reclaim the 90 hectares of land but not to carry out any development work till further orders.

The top court has posed the matter for further hearing on October 16, 2020.

How Will Coastal Road Project Change Mumbai Real Estate?

A combination of underground tunnels, bridges and elevated roads, the project may have the following four stretches upon completion:

Stretch 1: An underground tunnel from the Princess Street flyover (Nariman Point) to Priyadarshini Park (Bandra).

Stretch 2: A bridge from Priyadarshini Park to Baroda Palace (Worli).

Stretch 3: An elevated road from Baroda Palace to the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea-Link.

Stretch 4: An elevated road from Bandra end of the Bandra-Worli Sea link to Carter Road.

Cast away

The bottlenecks in the way of the project have been aplenty.

In April this year, the HC prohibited the BMC from carrying out any further work on the project. The BMC got relief when the Supreme Court allowed it to carry out the existing work in May this year. The apex court, however, barred the BMC from undertaking any new task related to the 29.2-km project.

Environmentalists and civic activists have also been aggressively opposing the project, not only because it “would impact the environment adversely”, but also for various other reasons.

They claimed it would promote private vehicle ownership and benefit just a few, while the eight-lane link from Nariman Point to Kandivali along the west coast will destroy the city's marine life and affect the community of local fishermen.

While the process to address the opponents' concerns went on, the government amended the Coastal Regulatory Zone Notification, 2011, to allow reclamation for the project. The Union environment & forests ministry gave Maharashtra go-ahead to reclaim land for construction by issuing a notification in this regard.

Impact on real estate

The project, expected to be completed by 2023, will certainly raise property prices in the areas that it will provide connectivity to. But how else will the project impact Mumbai and its real estate?

Need for speed to keep it green: While opponents of the project are lambasting it on the assumption that it will cause environmental damage, the project will actually help bring Mumbai's pollution down.

How so?

The number of vehicles registered in Mumbai increased from 1.5 million in 2007 to 2.8 million in 2016, data available with Statista show. This shows that on an average 97,000 vehicles were added to the city's already congested roads every year, assuming no vehicle went off the road during the period. Motor vehicles are one the biggest sources of pollution in the city. And, the situation gets worse with traffic congestion and unusual low speeds increasing vehicles' carbon emission.

An Island City surrounded by the Arabian Sea on the east, south and west, Mumbai, unlike other major cities, does not have a ring road network to channel its traffic from one side to another. This fully explains the classic jams on the city roads. When the coastal road project is complete – its 18 entry and exit points would allow better traffic movement between the freeway and local roads – it will not only help achieve faster vehicular speeds, but will also hit the brakes on Mumbai's carbon emission levels.

Moving towards greener pastures

One of the points the critics raise is that the project might diminish the green cover of the city. However, the truth is that finding open spaces in the Maximum City is a difficult task. Mumbai has been able to add only 360 hectares of public amenity spaces, including green spaces, over the past two decades. Mumbai and its classic space crunch have inspired authors and movie makers for generations.

How will a freeway help the city handle this?

The coastal road project will allow the space-starved city to create more open spaces for its public by building sea-side gardens, promenades, and jogging & cycle tracks. The panel that reviewed the project in 2011 also suggested building public facilities like toilets and drinking water systems along the project, apart from “providing beaches through soft protection measures at appropriate locations”. The project would generate recreational spaces of about 75 hectares by the sea side through creation of sea-side promenades and cycle tracks.

"Once the construction is over, there will be a bigger green patch recreated across the coastal road for morning and evening walks,” says Fadnavis.