The Bombay High Court today issued notice to the Maharashtra government, the Centre and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority over a petition challenging the construction of the proposed Shivaji memorial off the Arabian Sea. A bench of justices A S Oka and P N Deshmukh directed the authorities to file an affidavit within a month clarifying whether due process was followed and a public hearing was held before granting environmental clearances to the project. The court was hearing two petitions, one filed by an NGO and another by some residents of the city and representatives of various fishing communities. The pleas have opposed the construction of the statue on the apprehension of serious ecological damage. It also alleged that while it was mandatory for the state authorities to hold a public hearing and invite suggestions and objections from them, no such hearing was conducted. The petitioners' advocate, Mihir Desai, told court that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest had granted environmental and Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance for the statue in January 2015, despite the fact that the Maharashtra government had not conducted the mandatory public hearing. The Maharashtra government, however, argued that through an amendment made in February 2015 to the state CRZ notifications, public hearings had been exempted for the above project. The petitioners challenged the amendment and also pointed out that the project was granted clearance even before this amendment was brought about by the state government. The Bombay High Court has now directed the state to respond to all the above charges in its affidavit.
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