Dear Chief minister of Maharashtra ,
80 hectares of Mangroves & Wetlands worth crores on prime location on Palm Beach Road saved by High Court orders from being handed over to a private builder for residential and commercial development in name of golf course by changing the land use from No Development Zone to Regional Park Zone and Residential Zone .
The Bombay High Court on 1st November 2018 shelved the state government’s ambitious proposal to build a golf course and a residential colony near the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport calling it a destruction of water bodies/wetlands “which will infringe the fundamental rights of citizens.”A division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Riyaz Chagla was hearing a bunch of PILs against an October 2016 notification of the state’s Urban Development Department.
Interestingly, one of the reasons cited by the state in favour of its plan was that since the area was frequented by migratory birds and was located within 4 km of the proposed international airport, it could pose a danger to aircraft by exposing them to bird hits.“There is no material placed on record ito show that for preventing possible bird hits, making of the golf course is the only solution,” the bench observed..
It then added that the water bodies maintain ecological balance and therefore, “public trust doctrine” imposed an obligation on the state government and related agencies to protect them.
The PILs also sought protection for two city lakes – the DPS lake in Sector 52, Nerul and the other one at Palm Beach Road, Navi Mumbai – both of whom were in danger due to garbage and construction debris dumping.
The court directed that all the water bodies shown in the National Wetlands Inventory and Assessment prepared by Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad must be protected.
On the issue of the golf course and a residential colony, the court also noted that although the proposal was being discussed by the planning authority – City and Industrial Development Corporation – since 2002, the authorities had failed to show that the impact on the ecosystem and environment was assessed or at least “such assessment was made available to the Planning Authority or the state government” while clearing the proposal.
Not satisfied with this CIDCO has now filed an SLP in Supreme Court wasting more public money in unnecessary litigation. Why waste public money in unnecessary litigation ? Action should be taken & legal cost should be recovered from officials responsible for such decisions .
Save Wetlands & Mangroves by taking right decisions .
Thanking you
For complaints about wetlands destruction call 1926 or post online complaint on newly launched website https://www.konkanwetland.com/
Link to our Facebook page :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/savenavimumbaienvironment/
https://www.facebook.com/saveTalaweWetlands/
Link to Twitter : saveNaviMumbaiWetlandsTweets (@sunnyagro): https://twitter.com/sunnyagro?s=09
Link to a short film on this issue by international channel Zoomin.tv :
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=840898439434325&id=432708166912159
Youtube link to film :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQEPa0jRuDs
Another very informative film on Citizens initiative & Mangroves warriors .
FB link : https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1732876363438678&id=165818073477856
You tube link: https://youtu.be/-dnb2c0QUuA
