Were it not for the persistence of an activist affiliated to the Centre for Policy Research in Delhi, the January 2015 report of a committee to review the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) law of 2011 might not have seen the light of day. The report was submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) that month and her repeated requests for a copy, under the RTI, were turned down. Only after she filed a case did she obtain a copy. Since then, the law has been diluted several times and on some occasions, clauses have been lifted verbatim from the confidential report. It is no secret that ever since the law was originally enacted in 1981, states along the coast have been up in arms against it on the ground that it impacts “development”, which is shorthand for real estate construction.

Some of the projects that have benefited from this recent dilution are monuments/memorials (the Sardar Patel statue in Gujarat) in CRZ areas. This may well set a precedent for building the Rs 3,600-crore memorial for Shivaji on reclaimed land off Marine Drive in Mumbai. The report proposes to allow high-rise buildings (in Chennai) in CRZ areas within 500 metres of the high-tide line, and to permit reclamation of land from the sea (in Mumbai) for facilities such as ports, roads, harbours, and the like. Since Mumbai is the country’s commercial capital, builders have been lobbying against the restrictive CRZ. Even 15 years ago seaside real estate had exchanged hands for Rs 1 lakh per square feet ($2,000 at prevailing exchange rates), some of the highest prices in the world.

Politicians have been aiding and abetting them. Former PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, now in jail, had seven years ago advocated road projects along the coast, which require CRZ clearance. The serving BJP MLA, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who is a major builder, had listed the proposed Rs 16,000-crore coast road in his election manifesto. The coast road was initially to run from Nariman Point in south Mumbai to the suburb of Versova in the north. It would have bisected the fishing village of Juhu-Moragaon and made it difficult for the residents to access their boats. For this, as well as the potential destruction of mangroves, the road will end halfway in Bandra, after which it will be a sea link some 900 metres off the coast.

The clandestine report to MoEFCC even suggested that CRZ areas 500 metres from the high-tide line should not fall under state environment departments but under state town planning departments, which self-evidently lack the expertise to judge any environmental impact. It also proposed that in “densely populated” coastal zones, the no-development zone should be reduced from 200 metres to just 50 metres. While the state has turned a blind eye to the protests of environmentalists against such projects, they have had to pay some heed to the objections from fisherfolk, whose livelihood is threatened by such schemes.

In 2010, then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh commissioned a review of the CRZ by the Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environment Education (CEE). The NGO argued that far from diluting it, the CRZ ought to be strengthened by converting it into an Act, so that it wouldn’t be amended again and again. The CEE stated that if an Act wasn’t forthcoming, a clause should be introduced in the existing CRZ notification so that any amendment could only be done through a public consultation process with coastal communities. Its 70-page report had inputs from 4,500 coastal communities, apart from experts.

The report called for stringent punishment for CRZ violations, including for destroying mangroves, illegal sand mining, oil spills, and effluent discharge. While case after case of sand mining is reported every other day, in the context of the largest construction boom in the world after China, the CEE recommended that removal of sand from the coast should be prohibited. One should never underestimate the ingenuity of bureaucrats, with collusive builders, in bypassing the CRZ. In Mumbai, certain coastal areas like Mahim have been redesignated as “bays”, thereby reducing the ban on construction from 500 metres from the high-tide line to 100 metres. Two 50-storey buildings are thus coming up, thanks to the state’s largesse, and 24 more such projects have been announced in Mumbai. By the same token, the entire east coast of India could come under the 100-metre rule because it fronts the Bay of Bengal. The yardstick used to dilute the CRZ in creeks and estuaries can’t be applied to bays, the shoreline of which is subjected to waves and tidal action twice a day.

The author is Chairperson, Forum of Environmental Journalists of India (FEJI)