The National Green Tribunal has directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) not to allot plots in Mumbai’s Wadala Truck Terminal area until the required prior environmental clearance is obtained for the notified region.
The order was issued by the Pune-based western zonal bench of the tribunal, comprising judicial member Dinesh Kumar Singh and expert member Dr Sujit Kumar Bajpayee. The case was filed by social activist Arun Gaikwad, who challenged the allotment of plots without the environmental approval required for the area.
The tribunal said the Wadala notified area covers more than 50 hectares and therefore requires prior environmental clearance from the competent authority for the entire region. Until that clearance is obtained, MMRDA has been directed not to distribute plots in the area.
The order also applies to plots whose owners may already have obtained separate environmental approvals. Such owners must comply with the terms and conditions of the environmental clearance issued for the Wadala notified area, and construction can continue only in accordance with valid approvals, according to the report of the tribunal’s directions.
The Wadala Truck Terminal site covers 122 hectares. The Maharashtra government has designated MMRDA as the special planning authority for the area, where the authority plans residential and non-residential plots, educational institutions, transport facilities, commercial complexes and other buildings.
MMRDA had turned to the Wadala site after all open plots in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, where it serves as the special planning authority, were sold. The authority has been seeking land-sale revenues to support various projects, while the report states that MMRDA is currently carrying debt and requires substantial funding.
The applicant’s lawyer, Aditya Pratap, said the order could restrain construction undertaken without environmental clearance. He also alleged that large areas reserved for gardens had been diverted to other uses through adjustments. The lawyer said that obtaining clearance for the entire area would have enabled clearer demarcation of parks, open grounds and other environmentally important spaces.
MMRDA’s spokesperson told Loksatta that the authority had received a copy of the tribunal’s order and would undertake the action required under it.
