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dna exclusive: Maharashtra to study impact of land reclamation

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With major infrastructure projects like the coastal road, which involve reclamation of land, being lined up in Mumbai, the state government has commissioned a study to examine the impact of reclamation on local communities and the ecology.

The state government’s think tank, the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU), will analyse and scientifically study land reclamation in Mumbai, its influence on the coastline and the implications of projects concerned.

“We will study the scientific evidence of the actual reclamation in 50-100 years and whether the impact was mitigated, mitigable or could not be mitigated,” MTSU project director BC Khatua told dna. “The projects in the pipeline will be tested against these findings and it will be seen if they are environment-friendly,” he added.

Khatua said the MTSU will also conduct a socio-economic study on the impact of reclamation on communities in the vicinity, like the kolis, and also how it affects sociology, culture, economics and environment.

The state government has planned an ambitious 35.6km coastal road project from Nariman Point to Kandivli, which will require massive reclamation of land from the sea. However, activists have questioned its impact on the environment.

“Mumbai city was created out of reclamation,” noted Khatua, adding that Mumbai’s island city, which was once made up of seven islands, had expanded to twice its size to 70 sq km today because of reclamation.

Apart from natural destruction of mangroves, they had also been destroyed deliberately to create mudflats after which debris was dumped in a clandestine or authorised manner to reclaim land.

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