CRZ course correction in Khar frees 100 plots for devpt

Mumbai: A major correction by the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA) reclassifying Khar Danda as a creek area is set to result in over 100 plots in the prime area coming up for development. 

    NCZMA obtained the opinion of various agencies that specialize in coastal mapping before it corrected the error that showed the Khar Danda plots as within the restricted development zone under the Coastal Regulations Zone (CRZ) notification. Under CRZ, development is restricted for land that is within 500 metres of the sea's high tide 
line. In a creek area however, which Khar Danda has been reclassified as, it is 150 metres. A maximum FSI of 1 applies within this strip of land, that too if it is on the landward side of the road. 
    There's even more bounty for beneficiaries. The reclassification has been granted under the old CRZ rules; when the 2011 notification, which mandates only 100 metres, comes into existence with the new Coastal Zone Management Plan next year, several more plots will materialize. Khar CRZ norms challenged in 2006 after construction boom 
Mumbai: Civic sources said the areas up to the municipal garden at Juhu (popularly known as the Rajesh Khanna garden) would benefit from the reclassification of Khar Danda under the CRZ rules. "Plot owners will now be able to not only utilize the floor space index of the plot but also use transfer of development rights which allows an additional FSI of 1," the source pointed out. 
    While this is definitely music to builders' ears, one of the biggest beneficiaries of the NCZMA move will be the slum-dwellers of nearby Guzderbandh who, displaced by the widening of a nullah, were to be rehabilitated in the eastern suburbs of Mankhurd and Govandi. 
    Following the CRZ notification in 1991, the BMC, as planning authority for the city, had prepared the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), based on which development was to be restricted along the coast. "While the Plan recognized the presence of the Khar Danda creek, there was no differentiation in the setback line, and the 500-metre restriction was uniformly applied," said civic sources. "The plan was accepted by a committee set up under the then chief secretary and was forwarded to the Union environment ministry, which also endorsed the plan," the source said. 
    It was only in 2006 when the construction boom took off in the city that developers challenged the CZMP and sought a reclassification of plots closer to the creek. The NCZMA then got the National Institute of Oceanography as well as the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, to scrutinize the plan and give an opinion, resulting in the present correction. 
Reclassify Versova creek too, say developers W hen Khar Danda developers sought a reclassification of the area as creek area, a similar demand was made for Versova creek. Recently, a developer raised the CRZ reclassification issue in a litigation in a MHADA redevelopment matter on the Juhu Link Road, sources said. 
    "The Bombay HC has directed the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority to take a decision on the matter within six months," said officials. Here too, the error is the same, that of applying the 500m restriction from the sea rather than the 150m from the creek, said officials. The decision will change the fate of large swathes of land between Juhu and Andheri, said sources. 
    "This area is completely out of CRZ. It is a misinterpretation of the CRZ laws. It has been applied to an area where urbanization has already taken place several years before the notification came into force," said Rishi Agarwal, member, MangroveSociety of India. —Clara Lewis CRZ CLASSIFICATION REGULATIONS 
Coastal stretches within 500m of high tide line on the landward side are classified into 4 categories: 
CRZ-I covers ecologically sensitive areas and the zone between low and high tides. No new construction permitted except for extremely critical necessityCRZ-II covers areas that have already been well developed with infrastructure laid out within urban and municipal limits. No new construction on the seaward side can come up and reconstruction of existing structures is restricted CRZ-III covers areas relatively undisturbed and do not fall under the above two zones. Up to 200m is a no-development zone, 200m to 500m can be used for hotels and beach resorts temporarily with permission while the rights of fishermen to build small structures are honoured 
CRZ-IV covers areas in islands except those designated in CRZ I, II and III. No buildings can come up within 200m, and after that no more than two floors are allowed. Use of corals and sands, dredging and underwater blasting are also banned In the case of creeks, rivers and backwaters, the CRZ norms apply up to 150m where the width of the creek, river, backwater is more than 350m