Civic members demand update of coastal road work

Mumbai: Members of the BMC standing committee Wednesday demanded that the administration update them of the status of the coastal road work which had been brought to a halt.

Opposition leader Ravi Raja from the Congress questioned, “The coastal road is a prestigious project of the BMC. The BMC lost in the HC as well as the SC because of which, the work was stopped. The municipal commissioner, in his presentation last year, said that all environmental clearances had been sought. Why then is the administration unable to show them to the court? Per day, there is a loss of Rs 10 crore. Who will pay for the cost escalation?”

Standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav from the Shiv Sena said, “We should be officially informed about the work status. The more the project is delayed, more will be the cost escalation. Despite having the best of lawyers, why is the BMC failing to convince the court?”

It was last month that the Bombay high court (HC) stayed the coastal road work, quashing environmental clearances. The BMC then moved the Supreme Court (SC) against the HC order, but the apex court refused the civic body’s plea.

The civic administration is likely to submit a report on the status of the coastal road work during the next meeting while the SC will hear the BMC plea for lifting of stay on August 20.

The coastal road is an ambitious Rs 14,000 crore project of the BMC for which work started last year. However, environmentalists approached the court, citing lacunae in environmental clearances for reclamation of 95 hectares of land, lack of a scientific approach etc.