Mumbai: The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has proposed to auction a 1,278 sq mtr plot of a land in Airoli to developers despite a part of its land Sector 19, Airoli — being classified as CRZ-1A, under the Centre’s Coastal Regulation Zone rules, where no development is allowed.
Recently, six residents from Navi Mumbai’s Seawoods NRI residential complex approached the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Western Bench in Pune, seeking action against CIDCO in a similar case, where the planning agency is auctioning a 25,000 sq mtr plot of land in Nerul, which is also partly governed by the CRZ rules. The matter will be heard on August 22.
The petitioners have sought that the proposed auction, whose results are to be announced on August 22, be stayed. They have also sought that land (Plot. No 2A) be maintained as an “open space” as shown in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s development plan.
It is also alleged that the state government, through the environment department and the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), has failed to act on repeated complaints in the matter by the petitioners.
CIDCO’s move to auction the land has come under fire as around 30% of the plot is classified as CRZ-1, which refers to ecologically sensitive areas in the intertidal region where no development is allowed to take place, as per the latest iteration of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, in 2019.
The remaining area falls under CRZ-2, referring to areas that have already been developed up to the shoreline of the coast, and where building restrictions have recently been lifted under the provisions of CRZ Notification, 2019.
The petition filed against the Nerul plot’s auction, a copy of which has been reviewed by HT, states, “Part of Plot No.2A falls within CRZ-IA under the CRZ notification 2011. Clause 3(xii) of the CRZ Notification, 2011 prohibits construction activities in CRZ-I areas except those specified under clause 8 of the notification. Clause 8 of the notification sets out a very limited set of exceptions that does not include construction for commercial and residential purposes. The proposed development of a residential cum commercial complex on the parts of Plot No.2A that fall within CRZ-IA would therefore violate the CRZ Notification 2011.”
Similarly, in the case of Plot No 19 in Airoli — which belongs to a tranche of 14 plots due to be auctioned across Navi Mumbai for both commercial and residential purposes — a majority of the land falls under CRZ-1 and CRZ-2, as per the updated Coastal Zone Management Plan (2019) for Thane district.
CIDCO, meanwhile, maintained its position that they are within its rights to auction such plots. “The tender documents, in the case of the Nerul and Airoli plots, clearly say that any development will be subject to necessary approvals by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority. There is no restriction on selling plots which are classified as CRZ. Development restrictions on CRZ-2 areas have been removed now so it is possible to redevelop them,” a spokesperson said.