Mumbai: The construction of the Cuffe Parade Metro station on Metro Line 3 on part of the children’s park in Colaba Woods Garden could flout Coastal Regulatory Zone rules, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has said in an affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court.
The station is being constructed in the Children’s Park in Colaba Woods Garden, which is part of CRZ-III. The affidavit filed by Dr. B.N. Patil, Director, State Environment Department and member-secretary, MCZMA, on February 23 says MMRCL had applied for a CRZ clearance for 14 sites, of which seven were cleared as they came under CRZ II, two were outside CRZ and five were classified as CRZ III as per clause 8(v)(e) of the CRZ Notification, 2011.
These five sites, including the park, were referred to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) by the MCZMA on Novermber 24, 2015. As per the affidavit, in a letter dated March 22 this year, the MoEF informed the MCZMA that it cannot consider the clearance proposal as it was not in consonance with the provisions in the CRZ Notification, 2011.
The affidavit goes on to say that MMRCL revised its proposal for an underground station at Cuffe Parade. It read, “As per [the revised proposal], the underground station and allied activities were proposed in DP Road [adjoining the park] reservation entirely i.e. CRZ II area, and no activity is proposed in [children’s] park reservation. As the construction is permissible in CRZ II area, the same was recommended to the concerned planning authority.”
However, the MMRCL’s plan submitted to the BMC Tree Authority, a copy of which is with the The Hindu, shows a map of the Cuffe Parade station area in which trees to be cut are marked inside the Colaba Woods Garden. Tree Authority officials confirmed that permission to cut trees in the area was given to MMRCL.
Activist decry construction
City-based activist Zoru Bhathena said, “MMRCL authorities are doing their work despite being denied permission to carry out construction inside the garden. Nearly 300 trees, including those to be cut and transplanted, will be affected.”
R. Ramana, Executive Director (Planning), MMRCL, said their environment team has gone through several affidavits but he is yet to go through the affidavit in question. “Legally, we are not in violation. The DP road is an underdeveloped road, a portion of it is in the park, and we will have carry out our work there.” However, a State government source said the Metro project was given permission in the area as it is a civic amenity project.
As many as 5,012 trees will be affected in the city as part of the Metro 3 project. The MMRCL’s official Twitter account posted updates of a press conference held by it on Thursday, where it promised to plant three fully-grown native species for each treet cut, and also transplant 60% of affected trees. It also promised to restore green cover at stations where trees are cut.
