Bombay High Court scraps government plan to set up Golf Course in Navi Mumbai

The Bombay High Court on Thursday, quashed and set aside a government notification issued in the year 2016, modifying the development control plan and converting a 47 hectare of land parcel, which was earlier a no development zone, into a regional park zone, for making a 'golf course', another 0.85 hectares of land for building officers club and another 20 hectares for making the golf course, commercially viable, by allowing residential use of the land.

A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Riyaz Chagla, while setting aside the notification said "There is no greater public interest reflected from the agenda note, from converting water bodies in no development zone into a golf course and residential complex. Thus apart from the doctrine of public interest, state government its agencies and instrumentalities will have to act will have to act as trustees on behalf of the public to protect the same."

The court passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society. The plea claimed that Navi Mumbai has a total of 150 kilo meters creek line, dense mangrove cover of about 50 square kilo meters. However, due to garbage dumping and other activities the mangroves cover and wetland is being destroyed.

It also highlighted the destruction of two lakes—behind the Delhi Public School in Nerul and other one being T S Panchari Lake, on Palm Beach road.

The bench directed authorities-- CIDCO, State and local bodies, to protect and preserve the two lakes and to ensure that wet lands and mangrove cover is not destroyed.

The court also turned down the arguments made by CIDCO and Government that the golf course, if constructed, would ensure that migratory birds and other species are not present in the vicinity of the proposed new airport and it would help reduce bird hit incidents in future.

To which the court said "The question of whether establishing a golf course, will prevent bird hits to aircrafts using the proposed Navi Mumbai Airport, is beyond the scope of the PIL. However, for preventing bird hits the authorities can always take action in accordance with law and take such precautionary measures as are permissible in law. There is no material placed on record in the form of opinion of experts to show that for preventing bird hits making of golf course is the only solution.