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Finally, BMC appoints firm to map city’s shoreline, water bodies
Additional municipal commissioner says the entire exercise will take about a year Almost a year after the amended Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification was introduced by the Union Government’s Ministry of Environment and Forest, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday approved the proposal to appoint an organisation to map the city’s shoreline and water bodies with the help of land survey and satellite imaging. While the MoEF order dated January 6 this year asks for the mapping and the preparation of the Coastal Zone Management Plan for the city within 24 months, the civic body took one whole year to finalise the agency and get approval from the civic standing committee.
Out of the seven MoEF approved agencies, Chennai-based Institute of Remote Sensing within the Anna University has been appointed for the exercise. They will prepare the CZMP after identifying these areas with a cadastral map in the scale of 1:4000. Currently, the maps of 1:25,000 scale are not very accurate, officials said.
An official from the Development Plan department of the BMC said the report submitted by the agency will give a ground assessment picture of the exact position of all CRZ zones in the city, mostly focusing on the CRZ II belt that comprises areas within 500 metres of the high-tide line. The preparation of maps will also include marking boundaries for the gaothans and koliwadas in the city. The citizens can also feed in the survey, the number of the plot or construction site and find out whether they fall under CRZ or not.
The coastline mapping will involve preparing the high tide and low tide lines of the 380-km coastal stretch in the city. The map will also classify all areas in the city which fall under the CRZ I, II, III and IV as per the CRZ 2011 notification. Poles demarcating these belts will be put up.
“The BMC does not have the details of the measurements and properties regarding gaothans and koliwadas. These will be identified and marked on the ground. All irregularities will also be stated in the report. It will only state things as they are. Whether to regularise these old structures or to take any other action, such as rehabilitation, on them will be the prerogative of the state and central governments,” he said. Apart from discouraging additional and illegal construction due to ambiguities in the maps, the cadastral survey will also ensure that any harm to these ecologically sensitive spots can be reported and held as violations.
Members in the standing committee approved the proposal, but asked for an expedition in the implementation of the project. “Many old buildings that now fall under the CRZ are facing CRZ hurdle for redevelopment. The faster we carry out this exercise, the better it is for these people. The firm should be given incentive to finish work sooner,” said BJP corporator Ashish Shelar.
However, additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta said that since the published maps will have to be put up for public suggestions and objections, the entire exercise will consume about a year’s time. “It is impractical to do it in any less time, but we will make sure that it is completed within a year,” he said.
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