Re: Joint efforts to counter coastal road - a thought
Darryl D'Monte
Chairman Emeritus, Forum of Environmental Journalists in India (FEJI)
Kinara, 29-B Carter Road, Bandra West,
Mumbai 400 050, India
Tel +91 22 2642 7088, 2645 9286
E-mail: darryl...@gmail.com
Hello Darryl,
Mumbai and Mumbaikars, who contribute all the revenues of BMC and most of the revenues of GoM, are facing the consequences of neglect of the basic infrastructure – roads, drains, bridges, suburban railways, etc – almost on a daily basis, particularly in the monsoon.
However, those responsible for this state of affairs – BMC and GoM – are on their trip to execute frightfully expensive (marginally useful) projects like Coastal Road, Tunnel under SG National Park, Bullet Train, Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, etc. which will not help reduce the miseries of 95% or more of Mumbaikars in any manner whatsoever.
Is it worthwhile exploring the possibility of filing a PIL to stop the deployment of scarce public resources and divert some of these to repair and improve the basic facilities and infrastructure of Mumbai ?
Thanks for your time,
Rusi.
From: RUSI JABULEE [mailto:rusi.j...@gmail.com]
Sent: 07 March 2017 10:21 AM
To: 'Darryl D'Monte'; 'P. K. Das'; 'mumbaitransportforum@googlegroups.com'; 'equals...@googlegroups.com'; 'bwra...@googlegroups.com'; 'bbrtbandra'; 'Hema Ramani'; 'Nitin Killawala'; 'Cyrus Guzder'; 'navroz mody'; 'Samir D'Monte'; 'David Cardoz'; 'Pankaj Joshi UDRI'
Cc: BBRT Arup Sarbadhikary; BBRT Jugal K Tandon; BBRT Suresh Abhat
Subject: RE: Joint efforts to counter coastal road;Citizens, NGOs up ante against coastal road
Hello Darryl,
I personally feel that we should appeal to NGT and will be happy to assist in this effort.
However, it will have to be a joint effort from all the concerned NGOs to file and pursue this appeal, under the leadership of one person like you or Mr. P. K. Das.
Regards,
Rusi.
From: Darryl D'Monte [mailto:darryl...@gmail.com]
Sent: 06 March 2017 05:30 PM
To: P. K. Das; mumbaitransportforum@googlegroups.com; equals...@googlegroups.com; bwra...@googlegroups.com; bbrtbandra; Hema Ramani; Nitin Killawala; Cyrus Guzder; navroz mody; Samir D'Monte; David Cardoz; Pankaj Joshi UDRI; RUSI JABULEE
Subject: Fwd: Joint efforts to counter coastal road;Citizens, NGOs up ante against coastal road
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Zaman Ali <zamana...@gmail.com>
Date: 6 March 2017 at 16:57
Subject: Re: Joint efforts to counter coastal road;Citizens, NGOs up ante against coastal road
To: "Vivek Sundara." <viveks...@gmail.com>
Cc: Darryl D'Monte <darryl...@gmail.com>, Hussain Indorewala <huss...@riseup.net>, Shweta Wagh <shwet...@gmail.com>, Ashok Datar <datar...@gmail.com>, krantilc <kra...@hrln.org>, Rajesh Mangela <rajeshm...@gmail.com>, Shyama Kulkarni <shyamaku...@gmail.com>, Ashoke Pandit <ashoke...@gmail.com>, Gerson Da Cunha <dacunha...@gmail.com>, Meenakshi Menon <meen...@spatialaccess.com>, Nayana Kathpalia <nayana.k...@gmail.com>, "P.K. Das & Associates" <pkdas...@gmail.com>, Stalin D <stalin.v...@gmail.com>, Sumaira Abdulali <sumaira...@yahoo.com>, Meenaz Kakalia <meenaz...@gmail.com>Dear All,
The time has come. The EC for the first phase of the coastal road that involves the stretch between Versova and Bandra through the Versova-Bandra Sealink has been granted and has apparently been uploaded on the 13th of February, 2017. This would mean that we have time only till the 15th of March, 2017 to file an NGT Appeal. PFA the EC, the CRZ Clearance the EIA Report, and the Minutes of the SEAC meeting that provided TOR for assessment.
Please assess the attached documents and provide us your inputs/comments/arguments very soon, preferably by Thursday night.
Kind Regards,
Zaman
On Fri, May 20, 2016 at 6:18 PM, Vivek Sundara. <viveks...@gmail.com> wrote:
[ ]ASIAN AGE and DNA:
Joint efforts to counter coastal road
May 20, 2016 - Sadaguru Pandit | mumbai
A coalition of environmentalists, NGOs and resident welfare associations across the city have come under one roof to point out the loopholes and the environmental degradation that would be caused by the Rs 13,000-crore coastal road project of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).
Apna Mumbai Abhiyan (AMA) is soon expected to put up a strong fight against the civic body which has issued expression of interests (EOI) for four stretches of coastal road without obtaining the necessary clearances from the Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF).
AMA has alleged that while the final clearances from MoEF for the 33-km-long coastal road are still awaited, the BMC has asked the ministry to waive certain conditions which the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) imposed in its meeting in January this year.
The conditions apparently include setting aside 2 per cent of the total cost project, Rs 240 crore towards mitigation measures, which include restoration and conservation of mangroves and mudflats.
The BMC was asked to submit a study of the impact of clearing mangroves on the flooding of low-lying areas along the Marine Drive to Kandivali stretch of the coastal road. “The MCZMA has asked BMC to plant five times the number of mangroves cut or destroyed for the project. At the same time, certain permissions need to be obtained from high court before clearing the mangroves,” said an AMA official.
MCZMA has asked the BMC to ensure that no fishing activity was hampered during the construction and operations of the project. Also, BMC officials are supposed to create a green belt around the road.
However, AMA alleged that BMC officials have already issued four EOIs before completing the necessary studies.
“The BMC has proceeded to identify international consultants and their Indian counterparts to construct the four stretches without even obtaining the MoEF sanctions,” said Darryl D’monte of Bandra West Resident Association (BWRA) which is a part of AMA.
“Secondly, the BMC has not held any public consultations on the project despite it being a project which will change the face of the city,” he added.
Story from page 2 - City, dnaofmumbai
Citizens, NGOs up ante against coastal road
Virat A Singh virat...@dnaindia.net
Various citizen groups and NGOs, who have come together under the banner of Apna Mumbai Abhiyan (AMA), on Thursday not only reiterated their demand to scrap the Rs13,000 crore proposed coastal road, but also threatened the state that they would not mind taking to the streets or moving court if the project goes ahead.
The group was opposed to the fact that even before obtaining final clearance from the MoEF, the civic body had called for an Expression of Interest in April for four stretches of the road.
“There is no discussion required now; the ill-conceived and poorly planned coastal road needs to be scrapped, because even if we ignore the environment damage it’s set to cause, the project is not going to help the city ease traffic congestion as its only for the benefit of private car owners. The city needs mass transit modes,” said DM Sukthankar, former municipal commissioner and chairman of AGNI.
Environmentalist Darryl D’monte said the BMC had not held a single public consultation on the coastal road. “This is a project of the city and its own people are being kept in the dark. We have been trying to reach the BMC, but it has showed no interest in engaging with the citizens. It’s obvious that in spite of wanting to talk to us the consultants can’t do it without a go-ahead from the BMC,” said D’monte.
“The bigger question is how will motorists reach the coastal road as the current planned access roads are congested and the coastal road only threatens more congestion.”
The AMA is clear that it will act as a pressure group and not relent till the government hears it out. Filmmaker and activist Ashoke Pandit said, “The biggest citizen forums from across Mumbai are now together, we will first try to approach the authorities and if they do not meet us we all will take to the streets and even go to the judiciary.”
Hussain Indorewala, a faculty at the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture and Environmental Studies, said that even as the government demolishes houses built on forest land or amid mangroves citing environment laws, it itself is doing a project against it.
“Roughly, 1.25 lakh cars were supposed to ply on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, but today, only around 45,000 ply. Also, the cost of this sea link shot up by 400%. Imagine the escalation in the cost of the coastal road,” he said, adding that the same amount can be used for more sustainable and effective mass transit projects.
Published Date: May 20, 2016
