Objections to methodology hits beach widening plan

The beach nourishment plan for the Dadar-Prabhadevi stretch has hit a roadblock yet again. This time, the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) has objected to the methodology used for replenishing the beach. In its letter to the BMC last week, the CWPRS has said that the proposed technique does not provide protection against erosion which will result in nullifying the entire effort.

Officials from the BMC’s city engineer department added that the CWPRS has its doubts about the method which involves removing about 1.5 lakh cubic metres of sand from beneath the sea and re-laying it on the shore to widen the beach. Another 20,000 cubic metres of top soil was to be brought from the shore at Dahanu. “We will now send the plan back to our consultant P K Das and see if it can be reworked,” said CK Watve, BMC’s deputy city engineer.

The plan was initiated by former Lok Sabha speaker and the then MP from the area, Manohar Joshi, who wanted to build a wall along the coast. Following objections on environmental grounds, the plan was later modified to one that included replenishing the beach.

The plan was to be executed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) through architect P K Das but was forgotten after Joshi lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2004.

In November last year the BMC decided to take up the project again. It involves widening the 4-km coast from VSNL building (Prabhadevi) to P D Hinduja hospital in Mahim. The beach, which is at present about 3 metres to 5 metres wide in some places and non-existent in others, was to be widened to an even width of 50 metres at a cost of Rs 5 crore per 1.5 km.

BMC officials said that the project has already received CRZ clearance and the go-ahead from the Mumbai Maritime Board. However, they added that unless the mandatory CWPRS clearance comes through, the project cannot be carried forward.