Mumbai Mirror Article regarding the CRZ plan to save open spaces

Ramesh’s CRZ plan to save open spaces

Ministry of Environment and Forests wants all open spaces in Mumbai falling under CRZ II to be marked as no-development zones

Ravikiran Deshmukh

Posted On Wednesday, October 06, 2010 at 02:14:54 AM

Even as his staunch opposition to the proposed Navi Mumbai airport has frustrated the state government for months, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is now swooping in to save Mumbai's fast-depleting opening spaces. In a draft notification made specifically for the city, Ramesh's ministry has decided to stop any commercial exploitation of land that falls within Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) II norms. According to the notification, issued on September 15, all such areas will be reassigned as No-Development Zones, thereby barring construction even on all parks, gardens and playgrounds indicated in the development plans within CRZ II. While the total area in this plan has not yet been ascertained, it will cover all land "up to or close to the shoreline" that already has drainage, approach roads, water supply, sewerage mains and other infrastructure, from the southern tip in Colaba to Gorai in the west and Mankhurd in the east. This decision, sent to the state's Urban Development (UD) department and passed on to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will leave no room for the corporation's controversial caretaker policy that permits private parties to build clubhouses, restaurants and other recreation amenities on parts of CRZ II plots. Activists have long alleged that once builders get a toe-hold on open spaces through the policy, it is only a matter of time before they begin to exploit the entire expanse for construction. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh Responding to the Environment Ministry's notification, the UD department and BMC have started gathering information to list the relevant open spaces. Ashok Shintre, BMC's director, engineering services and projects, said the task would take at least a month. "We have received the notification from the state Urban Development Department. They have asked for the number of open spaces falling under the CRZ. But the coastal stretch in the city is very long. There are several open spaces along the coastline. We also have to categorise them as per their status. The whole exercise will take a month's time. The detailed report will be submitted to the state only after that," he said. When contacted, Nayana Kathpalia of the NGO Citispace, which has been fighting for the green spaces, described the notification as significant. "This will act as a legal sanction for the protection of the much-needed open spaces in Mumbai. As a result, people eyeing these pieces of land will be kept away," Kathpalia said.  What is coastal regulation zone-II land The areas that have already been developed upto or close to the shoreline. For this purpose, 'developed area' is referred to as that area within the municipal limits or in other legally designated urban areas which is already substantially built up and which has been provided with drainage and approach roads and other infrastructural facilities, such as water supply and sewerage mains.