The Bombay High Court on THursday issued notice to the State 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 clearance for the statue in January 2015, despite the fact that the State 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.
The petition is also challenging the decision of the Maharashtra government to construct the statue and memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and “allied facilities” on reclaimed land in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, at a cost presently now estimated at ₹5,900 crore, from the original estimate of ₹1,400 crore in 2015.
Mr. Desai said the environmental concerns in the project are aggravated because of the inevitable process of ‘dredging’ or ‘clearing of the seabed’ that will destructively affect the coastline of Mumbai. The fishing community will further be deprived of their source of livelihood, as the project in concern proposes to ward off the access to certain areas for the purpose of fishing and otherwise.
The environmentalists state that the environment and CRZ clearance awarded for the construction for the said project are bad in law as it forgoes satisfactory assessment and also denies the right of the affected people to be consulted and heard as the same has been revoked by the amended notification.
They plead for the amendment to the CRZ notification to be struck down as it is beyond the object and purpose of several regulations and runs diametrically contrary to the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
The Bench directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to file a reply on whether an order can be issued exempting the Maharashtra government from holding public hearings under recent amendment to the CRZ notification of 2011 and posted the matter on April 3.
