Mumbai ESZ Controversy: Draft Plan Favors Urban Development Over Conservation Of Sanjay Gandhi National Park And Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary

Mumbai with its two protected wildlife areas both distinctly different habitats (terrestrial and wetland) has a unique legacy. The Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP) and the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS), which is now also a Ramsar site, are the jewels in the crown of Mumbai.

In a bustling metropolis lie these two protected wildlife areas. It is an admitted fact even in government records that the forests of India are surviving due to judicial interventions.

The supreme court had directed that every protected area must have a buffer or shock absorbing zone around it. This was called the ecologically sensitive zone (ESZ) of the protected area.

Controversial Aarey ESZ Case

In 2014 the Save Aarey campaign took off and as part of the legal battle , the issue of ecologically sensitive zones was raised in court by Vanashakti. The issue was that all of Aarey was proposed to be the ESZ of the SGNP and the proposal was pending for approval with the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) for two years.

After the case was filed, the proposal was hurriedly withdrawn and a fresh proposal was submitted , one that allowed special provisions of locating a railway washing and servicing centre inside Aarey.

Ignoring all objections from thousands of citizens , hurriedly a notification was issued in 2016. Once the Metro car shed secured, the plan to destroy the rest of the ESZ was put into play. For eight long years the zonal master plan to protect the ESZ was not made.

Failure of the ESZ Monitoring Committee

A committee was established and named the “ESZ monitoring committee”. The legal mandate of this committee was to implement a zonal master plan. It failed to even get a plan in place let alone implement it. All of its meetings held were primarily to clear construction proposals with terms being used to mask the destruction on the ground.

The decisions taken in the absence of the Zonal master plan are nothing but blatantly illegal and hundreds of constructions escaped the process. After multiple court battles, the government realised that the zonal master plan was to be made and after nine years finally a draft was put out in the public domain. Then the farce unravelled.

Urban Development Over Conservation

Imagine a mining company being put in charge of a rain forest for conservation or a butcher being appointed as an animal rights officer. Sounds bizarre and preposterous doesn’t it? Well that is exactly what has happened.

The urban development department and the BMC, which are known to favour the real estate lobby, have been effectively appointed chief conservators for forested zones, ecologically sensitive areas and biodiversity zones.

The draft notification was made under the stewardship of BMC; the very body that is responsible for aiding and permitting the destruction of tens and thousands of trees every year in the city. All other departments appear to be subservient to the leader and all meekly signed on the document.

This draft plan makes a complete mockery of the concept of conservation and a sustainable city. Any report has the purpose, aims and methodology at the beginning . In this draft, that begins at page no. 249! Published in English it is presumed that the entire population of Mumbai is fluent in English The plan itself is nothing but a document that furthers the aims of urban development to erect constructions in close proximity of the SGNP.

The draft makes 3 categories in the ESZ 1, 2 and 3 respectively. ESZ 3 being the most ecologically sensitive areas that are pristine and have high biological diversity. Zone 2, and 1 allow everything that is deemed acceptable in the development plan. The draft completely ignores that any ESZ 3 area exists in Mumbai.

The people who made the draft admit that there are areas where they feared to go due to the threat of wildlife attacks and yet these forested areas were ignored. Ditto for the two rivers of Oshiwara Poisar and Chena whose origins and upper reaches are completely ignored.

Threats to Pristine Areas and Wildlife

Pristine areas like Chena which are not at all urbanised have been earmarked for destruction. The existence of indigenous tribes has been sidelined and all focus is on the ‘`encroachers”.

This is only to make provisions for SRA buildings. Many such faults exist in the document which would require a full page coverage to explain. The wildlife in the park is increasingly boxed in and escape routes to the next sanctuary exist only on paper. No effort is made to make it a reality.

To sum it up, the very process and the people appointed at the helm for a conservation plan are completely in contravention of the purpose of the ESZ.

Ideally a conservation map should have been superimposed by the forest department on the development plan (DP). The reverse was done and the DP has been superimposed on the conservation zone and that too only to facilitate construction and not conservation. Every desire of the BMC is promoted.

Consequences of Poor ESZ Planning

In places like Magathane, huge tall towers are being constructed adjoining the SGNP wall. Any earthquake will cause the building to collapse into the park, any fire can be set off inside the park with a simple firecracker from these buildings. New roads, transmission lines, townships you name it, it is permitted. While the SGNP itself is unable to prevent attacks from various projects, who will protect the ESZ?

Every tree lost in the city is shown as being compensated in the SGNP or Aarey . These lands don’t need trees, they need the grasslands to be protected for herbivores and not overpopulated with trees. To sum it up, whether it is SGNP or its ESZ, both are doomed . This demise is possible only because Mumbai`s citizens have all but abandoned it to the packs of predators to feed on.

The real purpose is to make MMR something like Dubai with two or three small parks after eradicating the natural areas . That is the utopian model of development of the politicians and the Government. And then politicians can thump their chests informing people that “ Vikaas Zala” (Development has happened ).

Also Watch:

Bombay HC Forms High-Powered Committee To Oversee Sanjay Gandhi National Park Boundary Wall Construction And Prevent Encroachments

The Ecologically Sensitive Zone has been defeated by the Economically Sensitive Zone plan! That’s the truth and the truth can be unpalatable at times.

D. Stalin

(The author is the director of Vanshakti and one of the foremost champion of environmental issues)

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