Coast Guard, residents to inspect Zhen Don

Justice R S Lodha delivered today’s order after hearing an ad-interim application in the notice of motion which the residents association took out in their writ petition last week.

The notice of motion was for intervention in the main petition and for a variation of the earlier order passed by the high court.

The grounded ship is to be converted into a floatel by developer Raj Pradhan. The developer had applied for and obtained permission for constructing a temporary road to manually remove the oil. The cargo had solidified into a sludge after sea water seeped in.

This has been opposed by the residents’ association who argued that the road violates the the Central Government’s Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification which bans any construction within 500 metres from the high tide line.

The sludge in the ship’s holds has remained as a bone of contention with the residents’ association maintaining that the figures on the sludge submitted by the developer had varied from time to time.

The Suburban Collector Sanjay Chahande certified before the court that the temporary road was 24 feet wide. The collector had issued a stop work notice on the road construction nearly two weeks ago after he found that the road had exceeded specifications laid down by the high court.

On July 3, the Bombay High Court allowed Raj Pradhan permission to build a road six-feet wide and two-foot high road.

Advocates Aspi Chinoy, Shiraz Rustomji and Mustafa Doctor appeared on behalf of the residents while Raju Subramanium represented the developer.