Despite the environmentally conscious Thackerays leading the state government and the BMC, the civic body is yet to fully pay the cost for environmental mitigation measures for the coastal road project. Among the many conditions for grant of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearance for the controversial project was payment of 2% of the total project cost for mitigation measures to the mangrove conservation cell. The cell had raised a demand for Rs 254.52 crore. So far, the corporation has paid only Rs 175 crore, as per documents obtained under the Right to Information Act by the Akhil Maharashtra Machhimar Kruti Samiti. The money is to be paid before work starts on the ground. Work on the project started around 2017-18, and yet, till October 2020, the cash-rich corporation had paid only Rs 25 crore. After a reminder from the mangrove conservation cell in October 2020, the BMC paid another Rs 150 crore. However, the civic body is supposed to pay another Rs 79.52 crore, according to the cell. “The BMC has paid only 2% of the estimated cost, and not the actual cost,” said Virendra Tiwari, chief conservator at the cell. But Ashwini Bhide, additional municipal commissioner, in-charge of the coastal road project, insisted that the BMC had cleared its dues. She said, “The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) NOC is issued only after all due amount is paid.
The required amount is 2% of construction cost, which is Rs 8,249 crore, plus 4% contingency, which comes to Rs 175 crore, and it is paid in full.” Bhide added that the amount of Rs 254.52 crore would only arise if calculated on the total project cost, which includes water, sewerage charges and supervision charges, which are notional and not part of the actual construction cost. “So no more amount is payable from BMC to the mangrove cell,” she said. The Samiti, which supports the fight of the Worli fishing community against the coastal road project, wants the BMC to widen the distance between the pillars of the bridge from the current 60 metres to at least 200 metres so that they can navigate their boats out to sea and back without crashing on the rocks. Fishermen have been staging a sit-in out at seato highlight their grievances. “The mangrove conservation cell is supposed to use these funds to study the project’s impact on fisheries and aqua culture. However, so far, not a single paisa has been spent for the study,” said Devendra Tandel, president of the Samiti.
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