Mumbai: Greens object to wall construction on Aksa beach, as it will lead to sand erosion

MUMBAI: City-based environmentalists have taken strong objections against the construction of a wall at Aksa beach in suburban Mumbai, as they said that this will further destroy the sandy beach, besides wasting taxpayers' money to build a wall, despite having an earlier order of the National Green Tribunal on this issue.
Activist D Stalin of Vanashakti NGO said: "I have complained to the collector, state forest department and the coastal zone management authority that is actually foolish to build a `retaining wall' on a beach, as it will further erode the sand, and also encourage illegal hawking here. Earlier, the Versova beach was also damaged by constructing a concrete wall there, leading to the mushrooming of illegal hawkers."
"The dumping of huge stones at Aksa site will accelerate the sand erosion, so the beach will eventually vanish. Hence, this wall must not be allowed to be erected on Aksa beach,'' added Stalin.
The wall construction work is reportedly being undertaken by the Maharashtra Maritime Board.
"The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had allowed only landscaping, playground and recreation ground with a strong rider that there should be no construction,'' NatConnect Foundation Director B N Kumar pointed out, while questioning as to how the wall construction started there.
Exasperated by the lack of intervention by the MCZMA, NatConnect has now written to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) seeking help to save the beach. An official at MOEFCC said the issue has been referred to the CRZ division.
NatConnect appealed to union ministry to step in before it's too late.
The solid construction work also violates the NGT order banning construction of sea walls or groynes along the coasts across all states and union territories, environmentalists said.
NatConnect also drew the attention of the government to the NGT order which also called for a shore management plan (SMP).
Yet no action has been taken to stop the work which is on the contrary in full swing, Kumar lamented.
When contacted by TOI on Friday, an official of MCZMA commented: ``We will have to first inquire into this particular matter related to Aksa beach, and then take action. At present, I am not aware about this issue.
TOI also emailed to a senior officer of Maharashtra Maritime Board for a comment, but did not get a response till the time of going to press.
“We have seen unnatural flooding of Girgaum Chowpatty and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), yet we do not learn lessons,” Kumar regretted.
Environmentalist Zoru Bathena too regretted that the work is going on in violation of the permissions, which specifically prohibit any construction on the sandy beach.
The NGT, hearing a case related to sea walls at Puducherry, pointed out in its ruling dated April 11, 2022, that National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), for the first time in the country, designed a hybrid solution with two reefs and sand nourishment for restoring the eroding beach.
As suggested in the NIOT report, there is a need to replace hard structures like seawalls, groynes etc. with softer options such as beach nourishment, sand bypassing, dune planting, offshore submerged reefs, etc, the order said.
Thus, the general principle of “working with nature” would be a better approach for cost-effective and sustainable coastal protection measures, NGT said.
Beaches are natural formations and there should be no human intervention with any solid construction, said Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratisthan.