Pimenta said the CM immediately endorsed a remark addressed to the municipal commissioner to look into the matter.
NGOs Watchdog Foundation and Vanashakti submitted a memorandum to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday, enumerating the concerns of the citizens, especially the Christian community, regarding the draft revised Development Plan (DP) 2014-2034. The NGOs informed the CM that the DP was not in accordance with the conditions required to prepare it.
A delegation including former minorities minister Muhammad Arif Naseem Khan, Save Our Land spokesperson Dolphy D'souza, advocate Vivian D'Souza, Bombay East Indian Association president Godfrey Pimenta, Watchdog Foundation trustee Rita Dsa and assistant parish priest, Our Lady of Egypt (Kalina), Father Donald Rodriques, met the chief minister and submitted the memorandum.
Some of the key demands mentioned in the memorandum were marking of all religious buildings, gaothans and koliwadas, no acquisition of cemetery and graveyard lands, FSI of 4 for gaothans and koliwadas, scrapping of the Gorai Uttan Manori Recreation and Tourism Zone, scrapping of reclamation for the proposed Coastal Road, which will have an adverse impact on the environment, and scrapping the plan of the Metro car shed in Aarey, which will affect the flora and fauna of the region.
Pimenta said the CM immediately endorsed a remark addressed to the municipal commissioner to look into the matter.
D Stalin, director (projects) of Vanashakti, said Mumbai was a coastal city and coastal areas were governed by the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) notification 2011. The notification clearly demanded that a High Tide Line (HTL) be demarcated and also that a Hazard Line be demarcated. To facilitate the above, preparation of the Coastal Zone Management Plans (CZMP) maps are a must. These maps are in the final stage of preparation and only after pursuing the same could any DP be drafted.
"The CZMP maps will show koliwadas clearly. They will demarcate the extent of the HTL into the landward side of Mumbai. Both these issues cannot be wished away and taken for granted. It involves the safety of lives and property of citizens of Mumbai. MCGM should have worked in tandem with the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) before finalising the draft," he said.
He said it was most shocking that such a crucial issue was not considered and the DP draft was put in the public domain. Mumbai is witnessing rapid incursions from the sea at various spots, such as Colaba, Shivaji Park, JP Road, Versova and so on. "CZMP maps will demarcate areas that need special considerations in the light of the threat faced by flooding from the sea," said Stalin.
In the letter addressed to the CM, Vanashakti has urged, "We call upon you to recall the draft and publish it after it takes into account the CZMP maps. The CZMP maps were supposed to be finalised in 2013 and the issue has been dragging since then. But now the information we have says that the maps are already ready in the scale of 1.4000 and these can be used to finalise the DP, bearing in mind the ecologically sensitive coastal zones.
Please involve the MCZMA in the drafting process and publish a fresh draft, one that ensures security of the coastline for current and future generations. Inter-generational equity must be maintained and we must preserve coastal zones and keep them free from avoidable constructions," said the letter.
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