Mumbai, July 16: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday has cancelled the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance given for coastal road project in Mumbai. According to a tweet by ANI, the order came on multiple petitions filed by few NGOs and local residents. With the new order in place, the Court quashed the CRZ clearances granted to the city civic body's ambitious Rs 14,000-crore coastal road project. The project proposed to connect Marine Drive to Borivali. Mumbaikars Protest Against Maharashtra Government's Coastal Road Project, Allege Project Will Affect Livelihood of Fishermen.

According to reports, a bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice N M Jamdar quashed the CRZ clearances while allowing a bunch of petitions filed by activists, residents and fishermen from the city challenging the project. "We are quashing the Coastal Regulation Zone clearances granted to the project. We have held that the environment clearance is required for the project," the bench said.

With the new order in place, the civic body of Mumbai- the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cannot continue work on the 29.2 km-long project, proposed to connect Marine Drive area in south Mumbai to suburban Borivali in north Mumbai. According to a report by PTI, BMC's counsel Darius Khambata sought a stay of the order to appeal in the Supreme Court, but the request was refused by the high court.

Coastal Regulation zone

The Coastal Regulation zone means the coastal water, wetland and shore land strongly influenced by marine waters.

 

BMC Was Asked to Stop Work in April

In April, the Bombay High Court had prohibited the BMC from carrying out any further work on the project following which the corporation appealed in the Supreme Court. In May, the apex court permitted the corporation to carry out the existing work, but prohibited it from doing any new work. The apex court then directed the high court to take up the petitions for final hearing.

According to reports, the project, proposed to connect south Mumbai with north western suburbs of the metropolis, was one of the flagship infrastructure schemes of the BJP-led Maharashtra government.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2019 01:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).