The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is apprehensive that the delay in reclamation work for the Coastal Road project may increase the cost of the project. The Bombay High Court's stay on the reclamation work until further notice forced the civic body to approach the Supreme Court.
As the monsoon season is hardly one and half months away, the work of reclamation will be slowed down and if the stay on reclamation work is not lifted, it will impact the cost of the project. The civic administration is apprehensive that the overall cost of the project may further increase.
A senior official attached to the project said that there is a loss of around Rs 4 to Rs 5 crore due to the stay on reclamation work. The High Court, in the second week of April, had stayed the reclamation work after NGOs and members of the Koli community voiced their concerns.
The BMC administration then approached the apex court on Friday against stalling of reclamation work. The SC on Monday heard the special leave petition filed by the civic body and adjourned it to May 6.
According to a senior civic official, lawyers representing the BMC is exploring all possible ways to lift the stay on reclamation work. "We have deputed three lawyers on the Coastal Road reclamation case and if required, we will approach the vacation court to get the stay lifted," the official said. The SC will go on vacation from May 13 and will reopen on July 1.
The Worli Koliwada community is opposing the reclamation work and they had already boycotted the general election. They did not turn up to vote on Monday. They are under the fear that the Coastal Road reclamation will eat away their livelihood. There are 400 Koliwada families that directly depend on fishing to earn a living and the reclamation will take away their land, where they dry fish. It will also affect the breeding of fish.
Apart from Worli Koliwada Nakhwa and Vanashakti, four other NGOs including Conservation Action Trust, Society for Improvement, and Greenery and Nature have filed petitions opposing the project. They said that the reclamation will pose a risk to the environment.
Zoru Bhathena, an environmentalist said that the cost of the project escalated to Rs12,000 crore from Rs 4,000 crore. "We are not responsible for the cost escalation from Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000. The BMC did not take all the stakeholders in confidence. Now, when we are raising genuine concerns, they are blaming us for cost escalation," said Bhathena.
There are 400 Koli families that directly depend on fishing to earn a living and the Coastal Road reclamation will take away their land, where they dry fish. It will also affect the breeding of fish