Authorities demolish encroachments on Wadala salt pan land

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the environment department have carried out a demolition drive to free around 100 acres of ecologically sensitive salt pan in Wadala, which was found to be encroached by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

NGT appointed a six-member committee earlier this year in response to a petition filed by lawyer-activist Madhura Tawde. The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had been given three months to clear the land on March 15 this year. However, as of July 10, no such action had been taken, Hindustan Times reported earlier this month.

“Finding serious violations of CRZ Notification, 2019, by illegal encroachments, dumping of C and D waste, and damage to the mangroves, the tribunal directed the State Coastal Zone Management Authority to prepare a time-bound action plan for remedial action to remove unauthorised dumping of waste, encroachments, and restoration of mangroves,” the NGT had noted in its final order.

The area straddles CTS Nos. 144-147 in the city’s Development Plan and includes both existing salt pans run by a private operator and around 55 acres of erstwhile salt pans where the Customs Department has proposed to develop a sprawling residential and commercial establishment—Customs Enclave.

Notably, the NGT ruled that one of the plots in question, CTS No. 145, is a ‘CRZ-IB area’ while some portions (including a massive bundh made from demolition waste) are in CRZ-IA areas, where development is curbed. The Customs Enclave plot on CTS No 146 is shown to fall under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ)-II category, which refers to areas that have been developed up to the shoreline of the coast.

“The mangroves on the plot which were destroyed will be difficult to restore, but the NGT has mandated the same to the environment department. My work will always be to save and protect the mangroves. As for the Customs Enclave plot, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority should investigate how the area has come to be classified as a CRZ-II area despite being a salt plan, which receives water during the high tide,” said Tawde.