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City 6SundayMumbaiMirror Sunday, December 24, 2017

Min resolvestraffic jamCommuters faced chaotic trafficjam on Saturday morning near theMulund Anand Nagar toll naka. Dueto the ongoing maintenance work ofVitawa Bridge on Kalwa marg roadbetween Navi Mumbai and Thane,from one kilometre before the Patniground, diversions signs were put upand traffic from Navi Mumbai wasdiverted towards Mulund. Despitethe underlying rule of not chargingtoll fees if the line of vehicles crossesyellow line mark, toll personnel kepton charging the fees. Harried com-muters rang up PWD minister EknathShinde who intervened to resolvedthe matter.

Indian aviation authorities had earlier shared a similar view, butstate officials still commissioned a survey by the organisation,which is associated with the United Nations. The survey reportnow leaves the government with no option but to cut its loftyambitions for the international financial services centre, or IFSC,to size. The proposed IFSC is Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’spet project. Currently, the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City in Ahmedabad is the only IFSC in the country.

“We have received the survey report and it has not given anyrelaxation over the height restrictions that range from 56 metresto 80 metres depending a building’s location. We will now lookat other design options for the proposed centre,” MMRDA com-missioner UPS Madan told Mirror. “We may have two 60-metre-tall buildings instead of one.”

The idea for a global financial centre at Bandra Kurla Com-plex was floated in 2014. MMRDA cleared the proposal in August2015 and a year later, it appointed a consultant to create a masterlayout plan. But the project ran into trouble when the railwayssought the plot reserved for the IFSC to build the undergroundcorridor of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.

In October this year, the Ministry of Commerce refused togive the special economic zone tag to the proposed IFSC as thereis no contiguous parcel of 50 hectares at BKC. Without the tag,the proposed finance hub cannot seek tax concessions.

Despite the hurdles, government officials are confident ofstarting the project. “We will follow the guidelines of the inter-national aviation body and design the IFSC accordingly,” Ma-dan said.

The survey report that backs height restrictions could also af-fect other buildings coming up at BKC and other areas falling inthe airport’s funnel zone. The problem is particularly severe inVile Parle, Santacruz, Kurla and Ghatkopar, where a large num-ber of residential buildings were constructed in violation of theheight limits. Over 3.5 lakh people live in 6,000-odd buildingslocated around the airport.

In August this year, the BMC added a proposal in the draft De-velopment Plan 2014-2034 for the reconstruction of old build-ings situated in the funnel zone. This was the first time in thecountry that a civic body suggested that such structures shouldbe put under a separate category for special privileges to make re-development financially viable for builders and residents.

Parag Alavani, BJP legislator from Vile Parle, has sought astudy by the international aviation body to ascertain if the areaof the funnel zone could be recalculated. “We have been told theMumbai airport has two runway threshold points and the fun-nel zone can be recalculated from the other runway thresholdpoint. This will give relief to lakhs of residents. Chief Minister De-vendra Fadnavis has already asked the BMC to check if this can bedone,” Alavani said.

He added: “Majority of buildings in the funnel zone, especial-ly in Vile Parle and Santacruz, are 40 to 50 years old and are in direneed of redevelopment. But no builder would take up such a pro-ject as FSI offered for redevelopment cannot be fully used in theareas.” BJP MP Poonam Mahajan, who is the deputy chairman ofthe IFSC, said a solution was needed not just for the proposed fi-nance hub but for all structures around the airport affected by theheight rule. “MMRDA is working on a design for IFSC. We willhave an iconic complex, which will adhere to the guidelines ofthe global aviation body,” she said. A

fter environmentalists, thestate’s fishing community toohas voiced concern over thestate government’s plan to re-duce the mandatory no-devel-

opment zone in the Coastal RegulationZone (CRZ). The community protested atCuffe Parade on Saturday with black flagsand called for plan’s scrapping.

“Our beaches – from Dahanu to Ven-gurle – and the livelihoods of all those en-gaged in fishing-related activities were safeso far because of the Act. If the governmentis successful in implementing the changes,we will challenge it before the NationalGreen Tribunal,” Damodar Tandel, Presi-dent of the Akhil Maharashtra Machhi-maar Kruti Samiti told Mumbai Mirror.

Currently, CRZ norms impose a blan-ket ban on development activities within500 metres from the high tide line. But asper the state’s proposal, which will soon besent to the Centre for approval, this widthwill be brought down to 200 metres.

While environment minister RamdasKadam, during his presentation in the As-sembly on Thursday, said the changeswould “benefit the fishing community”with regard to constructing homes, thegroup questioned the need for such a“drastic” policy change just for their bene-fit.

“The truth is that we are not at all incon-venienced by the current CRZ norms. Weget our permits issued from the BMC with-out any trouble,” said Tandel. “The onlybeneficiaries will be those who have con-structed apartments and bungalows in vio-

lation of the CRZ norms. If the proposedchange comes into effect, these buildingswon’t have to be demolished.”

The group also pointed to warnings byenvironmentalists who have claimed themove will do “irreparable damage” to theecology (‘Activists fume at govt’s move toshrink CRZ area’, MM Dec 23). Environ-mental activists Mirror spoke to had earliersaid that the decision was taken to help thecity’s real estate industry.

“The 500 metre buffer is essential to en-sure there are no environmental disasters.Reducing this will surely have adverse ef-fects. In the quest for development, one

should not ignore safety,” D Stalin, projectdirector of NGO Vanashakti, told Mirroron Friday.

Coastal areas in the state are classifiedinto three under CRZ. While CRZ-I coversecologically sensitive areas falling within100 metres of the high tide line where nodevelopment is allowed, CRZ-III covers ar-eas that fall within 500 meters of the high-tide line and are also largely considered no-development zones. CRZ-II, however, cov-er areas that fall within 500 meters of thehigh-tide line but are already developed,for instance, Marine Drive or Carter Roadin Bandra.

Fisher folk criticisechanges to CRZ norms

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After environmentalists...

RAJU SHINDE

Community raise black flags at Cuffe Parade on Saturday, call for scrapping the plan

PICS: SACHIN DESHMANE

Protesters raise black flags at Cuffe Parade

NG 3.7 PubDate: 24-12-2017 Zone: Mumbai Edition: 1 Page: MMIRCT5 User: thomas.mampilly Time: 12-23-2017 22:36 Color: CMYK

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