The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has ordered that a stop-work notice be issued to a slum rehabilitation project coming up on a prime plot abutting the sea in Nariman Point,alleging it is illegal. The construction is underway right behind the Manora hostel for state legislature members. The coastal authority will enforce the stop-work order until it finishes probing the allegations of largescale irregularities. Ace Links,the developer of the project,has constructed six storeys of the rehabilitation building. The building will house 150-odd Mahatma Phule Nagar slumdwellers living close to the coast at the fag-end of the Free Press Journal Marg in Nariman Point. The developer proposes to make profit by constructing two 22-storey towers with an unhindered view of the Arabian Sea. Environment Secretary Valsa Nair-Singh and Principal Secretary for Urban Development Department T C Benjamin,both MCZMA members,confirmed that the developer will be ordered to stop work soon. The MCZMA allegedly found grave violations that range from constructing on a plot reserved for recreation ground (RG),where no development is allowed,to granting more FSI than is permissible as per norms. The project is coming up on a Coastal Regulations Zone-2 land where development is restricted and is about 2 km along the same coastal stretch of South Mumbai as the controversial Adarsh Society that is facing similar charges of environmental violations. Officials said the project could put the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in the dock for serious manipulations in sanctioning the project. The SRA has approved the scheme as per the Development Control Rules (DCR) 1991 even though the DCR of 1967 is applicable for development in CRZ areas. DCR 1991 has several FSI benefits that include allowing areas such as lifts,lobbies,staircases,basement free of FSI. However,DCR 1967 does not allow for all these benefits,which means the SRA has effectively sanctioned way more FSI than is permissible, said the official. The MCZMAs action is based on a complaint filed by a society of local slumdwellers opposed to the project that has rendered half the residents ineligible for alternative accommodation. Under DCR 1967,the developer does not get the slum plot free of cost but has to buy it from the state government. This hasnt been done,leading to an estimated loss of Rs 1,500 crore to the state exchequer, said Naresh Kapur of the Confederation of Tenants Association,the advisor to the complainants. He added that the project lacks the mandatory environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. A senior MCZMA member said the SRA,when asked to submit a report on the various allegations made in the complaint,gave a clean chit to the project. We have now found that the authority had made false submissions before the MCZMA and hence we have decided to issue a stop-work notice to the project, said the member. While SRA CEO S S Zende was not available for comment despite repeated attempts,Danish Merchant from Ace Links said,We have not yet received a copy of the stop-work order. It is up to the MCZMA to investigate the matter and whether or not rules allow construction on RG plot.
