Bombay High Court Notice to MSRDC on Sea Link Land Development | Mumbai News – Times of India
Mumbai: Bombay high court on Wednesday gave Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) two weeks to reply to a public interest litigation (PIL) that seeks to challenge its proposal to commercially develop its Bandra Reclamation land for Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar was hearing a PIL filed by green activist Zoru Bhathena.The PIL filed this year said the proposed commercial development was beyond what the regulations permit and sought orders to get MSRDC to comply with coastal zone regulation (CRZ) norms for reclaimed land and to restore the plot as a green lung.
The bench orally said, “This kind of indiscriminate construction activity in the name of development cannot be permitted. We have already suffered a lot.” But senior counsel Milind Sathe for MSRDC submitted that nothing has been sanctioned yet and MSRDC will initiate proceedings only after getting the necessary permissions.
HC gave the petitioner time to file a rejoinder once MSRDC files its reply.
The 1970s land was reclaimed in Bandra for Bandra-Kurla Complex. Bandra-Worli Sea Link was planned in the 1990s, and in Jan 1999, the Union environment ministry granted environmental and reclamation clearance for the sea link to MSRDC. In Oct 2001, HC upheld the green nod and land was reclaimed in Bandra for the project.
In 2016, the state transferred the land and in Feb the following year, MSRDC acquired the land, which was being used as a casting yard for the Bandra-Versova Sea Link project till last year.
In Jan this year, when MSRDC floated a tender proposing to commercially exploit the land, Bhathena filed the PIL questioning the grounds and the law on which such development was being permitted on reclaimed land.
On the issue of restoration of roadside tree cover, HC told BMC to disclose its policy and gave it three weeks to respond.
A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar was hearing a PIL filed by green activist Zoru Bhathena.The PIL filed this year said the proposed commercial development was beyond what the regulations permit and sought orders to get MSRDC to comply with coastal zone regulation (CRZ) norms for reclaimed land and to restore the plot as a green lung.
The bench orally said, “This kind of indiscriminate construction activity in the name of development cannot be permitted. We have already suffered a lot.” But senior counsel Milind Sathe for MSRDC submitted that nothing has been sanctioned yet and MSRDC will initiate proceedings only after getting the necessary permissions.
HC gave the petitioner time to file a rejoinder once MSRDC files its reply.
The 1970s land was reclaimed in Bandra for Bandra-Kurla Complex. Bandra-Worli Sea Link was planned in the 1990s, and in Jan 1999, the Union environment ministry granted environmental and reclamation clearance for the sea link to MSRDC. In Oct 2001, HC upheld the green nod and land was reclaimed in Bandra for the project.
In 2016, the state transferred the land and in Feb the following year, MSRDC acquired the land, which was being used as a casting yard for the Bandra-Versova Sea Link project till last year.
In Jan this year, when MSRDC floated a tender proposing to commercially exploit the land, Bhathena filed the PIL questioning the grounds and the law on which such development was being permitted on reclaimed land.
On the issue of restoration of roadside tree cover, HC told BMC to disclose its policy and gave it three weeks to respond.
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