BMC Coastal Road Project: Supreme Court notice in appeal against Bombay HC judgment

Supreme Court today issued notice in an appeal by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai against the Bombay High Court verdict which had set aside the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearance for Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) Coastal Road Project..A Bench of Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta also issued notice in the plea for interim relief. The same will be heard on August 20..Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented the appellants..Earlier this month, a Division Bench of the Bombay High Court allowed a batch of petitions challenging the construction of the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) Coastal Road Project worth Rs. 14,000 crore..The Coastal Road Project was to connect South Mumbai’s Marine Drive area to Kandivali in North Mumbai. The project was challenged by environmental activists, residents and the fishing community from Worli Koliwada..The PILs had sought quashing of the decision of the BMC to implement the project and the CRZ clearance granted for it on May 2017 by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC)..The petitioners objected to construction and reclamation work on the proposed 10 km-long southern part of the Coastal Road from Marine Lines to the southern entry point of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link..The petitioners contended that the project was not given environmental clearance and that it will damage the coastal ecosystem, including the rare species of corals under the sea. It was argued that argued that the project lacked several clearances and permissions including those from the MoEFFCC, the Maharashtra State Coastal Zone Management Authority, and the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee..After reserving judgment on July 1, the Bombay High Court Bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice NM Jamdar set aside the CRZ clearance on July 16, stating that environmental clearance is required..[Read Order]