For slum redevelopment in CRZ-II, state seeks concessions from MoEF

SRA Wants amendment of 2011 CRZ notification, waiver of joint venture that requires state to have a 51% stake in rehabilitation projects

Modification to the 2011 Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification to allow reclamation for the Coastal Road Project and waiver of the joint venture that requires the state to have a 51 per cent stake in slum rehabilitation projects in CRZ-II areas were some of the major CRZ concessions state officials requested the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) committee, which visited the city on Tuesday.

A six-member committee, constituted in June to review issues relating to the 2011 CRZ notification, met senior officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Urban Development Department (UDD), City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and state environment and forest department. The committee will submit its report to the MoEF within three months.

With a new government at the Centre, the state agencies once again pushed for long-standing issues with the 2011 CRZ notification that were earlier raised before the previous government.

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Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte also urged the committee to bring parity in Development Control Regulations for CRZ and non-CRZ areas in the city and address restrictive provisions of the CRZ notification that make redevelopment of structures in Koliwada and Gaothans difficult. “I highlighted the need for CRZ and non-CRZ areas to be regulated holistically by creating synergy between town-planning and environmental regulations,” said Kunte.

“We are happy that the central government has set up a committee to review issues arising from the 2011 CRZ notification. The committee showed serious intent to understand our point of view,” he added.

To boost redevelopment of slums in CRZ-II areas, SRA asked the MoEF committee to do away with the joint venture policy and requested that schemes in CRZ-II be allowed to develop with higher floor-space-index that is allowed for SRA schemes.

“Since the 2011 CRZ notification, no proposal has been received under the scheme. It is not economically viable, so developers do not come forward causing slums in CRZ-II areas to languish without redevelopment, so we requested MoEF to reconsider their policy for redevelopment of slums in CRZ areas” said Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, CEO, SRA.

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Meanwhile, CIDCO has once again sought post-facto clearance to 138 buildings in Navi Mumbai stuck for occupancy certificates from the civic body for having begun construction without the mandatory CRZ clearance. Stating that CIDCO is set to lose 1,240 hectares of land, at present valued at Rs 37,000 crore, because the high-tide line is decided on the basis of salinity as per the CRZ notification, CIDCO sought a special discount, requesting that the 1991 CRZ notification be applicable to them. Another major concession sought by CIDCO was permission to bring mangroves in the 675 hectares of holding ponds as well as inland mangroves on CIDCO land under the Tree Authority, said Aparna Vedula, additional chief planner, CIDCO.

Delegation of powers to state-level bodies to grant environmental sanctions to projects and speeding up clearances at the Centre dominated the list of demands by the state agencies, according to Manu Kumar Srivastava, Principal Secretary, UDD.

anjali.lukose@expressindia.com

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