© 2023 IJRAR April 2023, Volume 10, Issue 2 www.ijrar.

org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)

The Coastal Regulation Zone Of Mumbai And

Impact Of Coastal Way Construction On Local
Residents
1
Gupta Darshan, 2Rane Jidnyasa, 3Negi Sushmita
1
Assistant Professor, 2Assistant Professor, 3Associate Professor
Department of Botany
Chikitsak Samuha’s Sir Sitaram and Lady Shantabai Patkar College of Arts and Science and V.P. Varde
College of Commerce and Economics, Goregaon, Mumbai, India

Abstract: India's 7,516-kilometre coastline has made the coastal areas crucial for the expansion of businesses
like shipbuilding and mining as well as for economic growth. To protect the nation's coastal ecosystem, coastal
zones must be regulated. The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2018, received government
approval in December of that year.The coastal areas of creek,sea,bays, rivers and backwaters that are that are
subject to tides up to 500 metres from the High Tide Line (HTL). The line between Low Tide Line (LTL) and
the High Tide Line are designated as Coastal Regulation Zone(CRZ’s) rules and regulations. As it is well
known, work on coastal roads is booming. Numerous trucks carrying gravel and stones from mountains and
other non-coastal areas enter the city every day; these materials are not ideal for the marine ecosystem. causing
destruction by polluting the air and water with dust. In this study, a combined survey was conducted in relation
to surveys about CRZ awareness, assessing the quality of soil and water near the construction and non-
construction zones around the coastal areas and choosing specific locations for the investigation of CRZ
infractions. Additionally, a number of surveys—both online and offline were carried out to ascertain the
general attitude of the populace about the CRZ law in that region or locality.It was found out that 46.43% of
residential population were aware about the CRZ law and are looking forward for it’s proper
implementation/compliance of the same.

Keywords: CRZ, Coastal Way, Marine environment

Introduction: Mumbai, the finance capital of India! It is a hub of industrialization and economy. A coastal
city which is growing day by day against its limited resources and space. Which is one of the lead causes of
illegal construction activities in the city and as we know to stop these illegal activities Government of India
has introduced many laws to protect the environment and human rights of the citizens of India. One of these
laws, which have a major role in coastal ecosystem/environment protection of the city is the Coastal
Regulation Zone (CRZ).

As we know coastal zones all over the world are very fragile and subjected to many human activities like,
housing, industrialization, farming, tourism, sewage treatment, dumping ground, etc. This leads to
encroachment of flora, fauna and anaesthetic beauty of coasts. To stop this in the nation, the former Prime
Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi in 1981 sent a letter to the chief ministers of coastal states to direct that, 'owing
to their aesthetic and environmental value, beaches had to be kept clear of all activities up to 500m from the
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highest water line. Subsequently, the Minister of Environment and Forest (MoEF) enacted the CRZ
notification issued under the Environment protection act of 1986. The government of India therefore declared
coastal stretches of seas, bays, estuaries, creeks, rivers and backwaters, which are influenced by tidal action
(in the landward side up to 500m from the high tide line) imposed restrictions and formulated guidelines of
various coastal activities.

The first CRZ was introduced in 1991 and all coastal states were bound to formulate Coastal zone management
(CZM) plans classifying coastal stretches as CRZs. In Maharashtra, the state level Maharashtra coastal zone
management authority (MCZMA) was constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest in exercise of
the powers conferred by sub sections (1) and (3) of section 3 of the EPA 1986. The authority shall deal with
environmental issues relating to Coastal Regulation Zone which may be referred to it by the state government,
the National coastal zone management authority or the central government. MCZMA has a District coastal
zone management authority (DCZMA). One of the DCZMA is Mumbai Coastal Zone Management Authority,
which looks after the coasts of Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Since the establishment of CRZ it has gone through many amendments and new CRZ were established 2 times
i.e. in 2011 and 2018 with major changes. CRZ had played a major role in conservation of coasts but
application of it was made difficult because of the various loopholes in the system. Henceforth Mumbai has
hundreds of pending issues regarding CRZ. As we know that Mumbai is developing day by day, new projects
and plans are always on the way for implementation. One of such projects for ease of the people is Mumbai
Coastal Road. It stretches from Marine Lines to Kandivali and will have a total length of 21.2Km.

It will be completed in 2 phases, costing around 15,000 crore in total. Approximately 700 crore per KM.
Which makes it one of the most costliest roads. As per the CRZ law, the whole road is legal because it is made
for the ease of people and CRZ allows any type of road construction except private roads in CRZ1 zone but
construction of coastal way may lead to legalisation and establishment of illegal infrastructure. Of which most
of the citizens are unaware. And those who are aware of it, are asking questions to the government about the
completion of the project.

As we know, construction of coastal roads is on peak. Hundreds of trucks enter daily in the city containing
gravels and rock from mountains and non-coastal zones, which is unsuitable for marine ecosystems. Creating
havoc of pollution in the form of dust in air and marine water. Construction has also converted calm and silent
coastal zones into noisy areas. Which is affecting the mental health of people, of which we are unaware!

This project will look after both:

(1) The CRZ law of Mumbai and its implementation

(2) Effect of construction activities of coastal road

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1. Review of Literature:

The following review comprises earlier work done by various research personnel on Coastal zone
management, CRZ, Coastal ecosystem, etc.

1. Anuj Pawar, et al. in Design of Coastal Road in Mumbai City, stated that Mumbai does not have
a ring road on its periphery to take traffic from one part to the other speedily. Hence it identifies the
importance of Coastal road.
2. Antonio Mascarenhas, The coastal regulation zone of Goa, 1999, has evaluated the coastal zones
of Goa and its exploitation with keeping sand dunes at the centre, which will help to draw and follow
the plan of work
3. Hemant Kumar A chauhan, et al. Coastal ecology and fishing community in Mumbai, 2016 stated
(pp. 55-56, conclusion)

Statement 1: India's coastal stretch have become sites of random and unsustainable development
pressures. Hence environmental concerns are observed to arise out of the sheer imperative of human
survival.

Statement 2: A review of research and voice from the field reveal that CRZ policy is only a paper
tiger, and it raises the basic questions about whom the policy was designed for and who are actually
benefiting from it.

Above statements indicate that there are violations of CRZ and have enormous scope of study. This
study will look after different regions ie. Mahalaxmi, worli, Mahim, etc. Which comes under Mumbai
City with different parameters.

4. Hemant Kumar Chauhan, et al. Coastal ecology and fishing community in Mumbai, 2016, p. 55, para
2 states "In 2009, 24 complaints against CRZ violations were registered in Maharashtra. The MCZMA
did issue letters to the concerned violators. However not even one complaint was taken up for action
against the cited violations. In 2010, 42 complaints registered, of which only 10 complaints were under
a directive process while the rest were only issued letters to stop the violations on CRZ site. In 2011,
there were 99 complaints registered against CRZ violations."
5. Pennan Chinnasamy & Aashni Parikh in “Remote sensing-based assessment of Coastal Regulation
Zones in India: a case study of Mumbai” has given map of CRZ violations of Mumbai and its nearby
locations in 2002,

Figure 1: Violation of Coastal areas

6. Ramakrishna Nallathiga, et al., Development Planning and Environment in Coastal Zone: Conflicts
and Violations in the context of Mumbai, in their paper they focuses on the conflicts and violations
between development planning and environment by taking case study of Mumbai. The CRZ legislation
effectively reduced the land available for development and along the development of the city as well.

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They have shown the mushrooming slums in Mumbai that would fall under CRZ-II through a
photograph.

CRZ map of Mumbai:

Figure 2: Source- CZMP MUMBAI

Prepared by National centre for sustainable coastal management, September 2021.

2. Plan of Work:

1. To draw the 1st map of Mumbai coastal areas as per their use. Eg. Beach, slums, ports, traditional fishing
points, etc. Another with coastal road projection.
2. To select particular sites for the study of CRZ violations. Clicking pictures and collecting data about that.
3. To conduct surveys regarding awareness of CRZ, impact of coastal way etc.
4. To interview eminent environmentalists,Activists and people.
5. To get a view of the coastal way from fishermen and local residents.

3. Material and Methods:

Interviews: Interview of various locals, students, environmentalists has been taken using

● Google forms
● Video conferencing
● Telephonic conversations
● Face to face meetings

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Data has been recorded and presented in the form of statements.

4. Result and Discussion:

Site survey: On the 6th of March 2021 small site survey was conducted at Versova beach and photographs
with few observations were noted down.

Figure 3: Photographs 1-4, illegal settlements on the versova beach.

5. Observations:

● Both small and large vehicles had direct entry to the beach.
● Few hawkers had also placed their shops on the beach.
● Permanent settlements were as close as 50 to 60 metres from HTL.
● Few temporary settlements made up of tarpaulin were very close to HTL and were present on the
beach itself.
● Apart from all this, the beach was satisfactorily clean.

Interviews:

Online survey: An online survey was successfully conducted with the help of google forms. The main aim
of this form was to raise the awareness of CRZ and Coastal way among the people. This form also helped to
gain the views on coastal way construction through short paragraphs; although most of the data was concluded
in pie chart format for convenient conclusions.

In the sample of survey there were people from different backgrounds like Students from various sections like
law, environment, architecture, engineering, etc.;Professors, Competitive exam aspirants and office
employees too. Through the first question which was to see what location people prefer on coast for its
aesthetic beauty it was concluded that from 56 responses;

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26 People (46.4%) preferred beach covered with trees or rural beach

21 people (37.5) preferred Nariman point

6 People preferred Girgaum beach (Beach surrounded with buildings)

Selection of Rural beach and Nariman point by majority indicates that people prefer beautiful maintained
coasts either by nature or man.

Selection of Rural beaches indicates that people are inclined toward the environment.

In the next survey question Figure 4 , people expressed that it is necessary to make laws to protect the
environment

Figure 4 : Necessity to make the law

Figure 5: Enforcement of laws

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By survey question 3: Out of 56 Only 25% thinks that CRZ is successfully being enforced around them (Figure
5).

Figure 6 : Negative impact of CRZ

Figure 7: Necessity of Coastal road.

By this survey we get to know people think that sea side slums and residents are going to be most affected by
this law. Figure 6

It was conflicting between people whether construction of Asia’s one of the costliest road is necessary or not.
Almost 40% of people think that this road is necessary and against that 30% people don’t think of it as a
necessity of the city. Figure 7

Masses think that construction of coastal way will affect the environment severely. Figure 8

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Figure 8: More loss in project

Apart from this through the survey few statements were also recorded regarding CRZ and Coastal road. By
expressing their view on recent coastal road construction few people commented:

‘It will provide benefit, but extract environmental and public health costs’ Aishwarya Kadam, Age: 40, editor,
Vasai Manas Newspaper.

“To be honest, our government is saying about this project in a positive image only. What is my point in this
is we had already witnessed a cyclone type of rain during last monsoon season only in South Mumbai region
and the areas were not in a list of waterlogged are seen under water so it's just a early sign that nature is giving
hints for us about this project the main reason is pushing the sea back by covering the areas near costs the
water will travel in those areas which are open during the high tides. From considering the middle class person
point he'll not travel on daily basis by this route because he'll not afford such costly tolls and taxes which will
be applicable later on considering Mumbai's middle class ratio it'll not consider as a 'dream project' for
Mumbai. It is only for a ease of richer higher class business man and individual who's travelling on daily basis
to South Mumbai.” Shreyas Sawant, Age: 25, Local resident near coast.

“Keeping in mind the growing needs of the population i feel that the project is gonna help us out by saving
the time and also the traffic congestion created. It may be harmful for the costal region affecting the marine
life but then I think it is necessary for growth of a nation as well. I feel it is beneficial.” Jason Samuel, Age:
26, Environmentalist.

It destroys marine life,coral reefs and crucial fish spawning grounds and disrupts marine food chains, which
in turn impacts adversely the local fishery communities and economies dependent on them. -Diksha Pandey,
Age: 21

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References:

1. Antonio Mascarenhas, 1999. The coastal regulation zone of Goa.

2. Antonio Mascarenhas, 2009. Some Implications of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Legislation for
the Coast of Goa, Natural Resources of Goa: A Geological Perspective, pp. 189-213
3. A. Ramachandran, B. Enserink, A.N. Balchand, 2005. Coastal regulation zone rules in coastal
panchayats (villages) of Kerala, India vis-a`-vis socio-economic impacts from the recently introduced
peoples’ participatory program for local self-governance and sustainable development, Ocean &
Coastal Management Volume 48, Issues 7–8, Pages 632-653
4. Anuj Pawar, Ganesh Patil, Sayali Salunke, 2016. Design of Coastal Road in Mumbai City,
International Journal of Engineering Research, Volume No.5, Issue Special 1 pp : 80-84
5. CRZ notification 2019, The gazette of India, Part 2-section 3-subsection (i)
6. D. Nandkumar and M. Muralikrishna, 1998, Mapping the extend of Coastal Regulation zone,
National Fish Workers Forum, pp. 22-23
7. Government of India (1991), Notification of CRZ 1991, Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Government of India, New Delhi.
8. Government of India (2011), Notification of CRZ 2011, Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Government of India, New Delhi.
9. Hemant Kumar A chauhan, Devanathan Parthasarathy,Sarmistha Pattanaik, 2016. Coastal
ecology and fishing community in Mumbai, Economic and Political Weekly 51(39), pp :48-57
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environmental vulnerability and CRZ violations in India: impacts on fishing communities and
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11. Ministry of Environment and Forests, 2008a. The Gazette of India, draft Coastal Zone Management
Notification, 21 July 2008, p. 9
12. Pennan Chinnasamy & Aashni Parikh, 2021. Remote sensing-based assessment of Coastal
Regulation Zones in India: a case study of Mumbai, India, Pennan Chinnasamy, Aashni Parikh,
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14. Ramakrishna Nallathiga,Suyog Jadhav, Tejashri Mane and Aniket Lohar, 2018. Development
Planning and Environment in Coastal Zone: Conflicts and Violations in the context of Mumbai, ITPI
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