[Mumbai Coastal Road Project]" Will Consider Prayers On October 7": SC Adjourns Plea Seeking Stay On Reclamation Work Of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday briefly took up for hearing, the plea seeking a stay on the ongoing reclamation work of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) coastal road project.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde, Justices AS Bopanna & V. Ramasubramaniun stated that the bench will take up the matter at length on October 7, 2020, adding that the bench will take the petitioner(s) prayers into consideration.

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan appeared for Applicant(s) Conservation Action Trust (CAT) and Shweta Wagh, founder of Collective for Spatial Alternatives and submitted that in terms of the order of December 17, top court had restrained them from developing it for the time being and that they hadn't confined themselves to below the road at all.

"Environmental clearance is all about precautionary principle and the High Court has held so. Your lordships have to look at this from the lens of whether it is required or not," added Divan.

He added that the BMC had now filed an additional affidavit which stipulates that the reclamation work area had now been increased to 38.45 hectares. "It is bad enough that they don't have an environmental clearance for this and this is now enhanced below the carriageway, which was earlier 20 hectares," said Divan.

The CJI then said that the bench did not have a copy of the additional Affidavit filed by the BMC.

At this juncture, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for one of the Contractors told the Court that the entire argument of mandate of Environmental clearance for a road was unfounded.

In light of this, the Court listed the case on October 7, stating that on that date, the case will be the only matter listed on the board.

On February 25, the CJI led bench had refused to stay the reclamation work on submissions by Divan wherein he had asserted that the ongoing reclamation work being done by the authorities surpassed the earlier order of the Supreme Court in order dated 17th December 2019 which had, in effect insinuated a curb on carrying out any development work. The Court had instead sought response from the stakeholders on the plea.

Pointing to a Google map which earmarked the coastline surrounding the roadwork's area, Divan had then contended that the authorities had been frantically carrying out activities without paying much heed to the coastal ecology.

While claiming that extending the area required for carrying out works was in contravention of the Supreme Court's orders, Divan argued that rapid reclamation was causing irreversible damage to the environment.

At this juncture, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi & Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had interjected and stated that no such contravention of the orders of the Supreme Court was taking place.

"Do they expect us to carry out development in the road works by standing at sea?" said Rohatgi, denying the claims of the Applicant.

In July Last year, the Bombay High Court had quashed the Coastal Regulation clearances granted to the coastal road project on account of numerous irregularities, which had been overlooked by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.

Subsequently, admitting an appeal of the Municipal Corporation, the Supreme Court had stayed the Bombay High Court Judgment on 17th December 2019 and allowed the Authorities to reclaim the land and build the road in the designated area.

While doing so, it had however disallowed carrying out any other development work until further orders and had listed the matter on 8th April 2020.