Coastal Road work halted

Mumbai, Wednesday, 24 April 2019

High Court’s order of “as is” persists, hearing scheduled in June

Mumbai, 23rd: On Tuesday (23rd) the Bombay High Court upheld the order of 'as is' for the work of the Coastal Road, an ambitious project of the State Government and the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. As the next hearing on the petition will be held in June, the work on this route will be halted till then. So now the future of this work depends on the role of the Municipal Corporation. There is a possibility that the municipal corporation will make an appeal to the Supreme Court to start work.

Five PILs have been filed in court alleging that the coastal road filling is damaging the ecosystem and endangering the livelihood of the Koli community. The hearing was held before the bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Nitin Jamdar. On behalf of the Municipal Corporation, senior lawyer Srihari Ane filed before the bench a demand for a hearing regarding the removal of the 'As Is’ order on the work of the coastal road. Due to the stoppage of work, the municipal corporation is suffering financial losses and due to the coming of the monsoon, the conservation and maintenance of the work done so far will also be hindered. He also pointed out to the bench that the environment could also be further harmed. However, a decision will be made after hearing.

For the time being, it was suggested by the bench to appoint a court officer for the inspection of the work, a documentary should be made. But the municipality refused to file a petition on these limited issues. Therefore, the bench fixed the hearing on June 3rd. An application has been made in court by the representative of Larsen and Toubro, which has got the work of a part of this project. According to the company, the loss of crores has been incurred due to the stoppage of work, but the contractor is concerned about financial loss; and that has nothing to do with the environment, the bench said. The court explained that we will allow you to present your case if necessary. In the affidavit filed by the Environment Ministry, it is stated that in terms of public interest, this project is important and the expert committee has given the necessary consent in this regard.

…..then damage will be caused to the project!

So far about 2228 meters of wall and embankment have been built near the sea. There is a need to set up safety measures before the onset of monsoon. The contractor says that because the construction is likely to be damaged by heavy waves during the monsoon, this could lead to major damage to the project

Municipality to appeal in the Supreme Court

The coastal road is an ambitious project of the municipal corporation. If the work on this road is stopped, the municipal corporation has expressed the fear that they may suffer a loss of around 10 crores per day. Therefore, there is a possibility that the municipality will challenge the “As Is” order of the Supreme Court.