Mumbai: Construction on Aksa beach drives greens up the wall

The wall that has been constructed right in between the beach, also has a promenade alongside it

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has asked the environment department to look into the construction of a seawall at Aksa beach after a complaint from environmentalists and activists. Environmentalists complained to the CM that despite Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) curbs and a National Green Tribunal (NGT) ruling on the issue, the work on the seawall is fast nearing completion. The seawall also has a promenade alongside where benches have been put up.

NGO NatConnect Foundation Director B N Kumar pointed out in his email to CM Shinde on Monday that it is shocking that the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) has taken up construction of the seawall in the middle of the beach, though the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has explicitly said that there should be no permanent construction on beaches.
MCZMA did not check?

Environmentalist Zoru Bhathena said that the CRZ clearance allows only landscaping, playground and recreation grounds on beaches. NatConnect Foundation has argued that the MCZMA permitted a parapet wall and not a seawall. As the MCZMA allegedly failed to check implementation of its own order, NatConnect has written to the CM and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) seeking help to save the beach.

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"The CM marked the mail to Pravin Darde, principal secretary, environment and climate change, to look into the issue," Kumar said.

He also pointed out that the solid construction work also violates an NGT order banning construction of seawalls or groynes along the coasts across all states and union territories.

The NGO also drew the attention of the government to an NGT order which also called for a shore management plan (SMP).

The then State Environment Principal Secretary Manisha Patankar-Mhaiskar, in a WhatsApp response to NatConnect, had promised to take "appropriate steps after studying the NGT order". Patankar-Mhaiskar had stressed, "The government is committed to protecting the coasts from sea erosion and we will take all steps towards that."

"Yet no action has been taken to stop the work, which is on the contrary, on in full swing," Kumar added.

Bhathena had also complained to the Mumbai Suburban District Collector that the work is going on in violation of the permission, which specifically prohibits any construction on the sandy beach. "I am shocked at the apathy of officials in charge of coastal zone management and the environment," Bhathena said.

'Not a useful structure'

"It is a fact that these hard structures may prevent erosion at the said stretch temporarily but the adverse impact of such measures are felt upstream or downstream where erosion starts. Thereby such hard measures only transfer the problem of shoreline change until and unless a holistic study is undertaken keeping in view that sediment cells and appropriate scientific measures taking into consideration both soft and hard," an NGT special bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said.

As suggested in an National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) report, there is a need to replace hard structures like seawalls, groynes, etc. with softer options such as beach nourishment, sand bypassing, dune planting, offshore
submerged reefs, etc. Thus, the general principle of "working with nature" would be a better approach for cost-effective and sustainable coastal protection measures, NGT said.

Nandakumar Pawar, director of Sagarshakti, an NGO, said there should be only natural measures such as sand nourishment and plants to protect the coasts rather than the solid constructions which would lead to tidal water attacks in other areas as water is bound to find its course if its natural flow is interfered with.

"We have seen unnatural flooding of Girgaum Chowpatty and BKC, yet we do not learn lessons," he said.