Mumbai News: Aksa Beach Sea-Wall Caves In Within A Year Of Construction

A 600-metre seawall at Aksa beach in Malad has begun to cave in within a year of construction, while the National Green Tribunal is hearing a petition against the wall for its anti-nature characteristics. After the wall has started caving in, the petitioners wrote to the Maharashtra chief minister calling for the demolition of the ill-conceived wall allowing free flow of tides.

In less than a year of construction by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), the sea wall has begun to cave in with multiple parts of the wall collapsing along the stretch. At the time of its construction in May 2023, green activists had moved to the NGT against the wall claiming that the beach falls in the ecologically fragile category of CRZ I under the Coastal Regulation Zone notification and the wall is an indiscriminate, illegal and unnecessary construction.

After the petitioners noticed the condition of the wall on Thursday, they wrote to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde demanding immediate demolition of the wall and allowing the free flow of tides.

In the NGT hearing until now, MMB had argued that it had built the wall to protect the coast from erosion. However, the petitioners had argued that the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has stipulated in its CRZ condition restricting any solid construction in the tidal influential area.

B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation and one of the petitioners, said, “The wall is in the middle of the path of tidal water and therefore it is anti-nature as it cuts into the high tide line and interferes with free flow of tides. In a classic case of nature striking back, we noticed that the wall has started developing cracks and caving in, which itself is enough to support our demand that this wall should be immediately demolished.”

The petitioners have also alleged that the MMB violated the condition and went ahead by executing the project and completing nearly 95% of the construction even as the hearing was on at the NGT’s western zonal bench. NatConnect has also complained to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which has asked the MCZMA to investigate and report back.

Social activist Zoru Bathena, who is another petitioner in this case, said, “The pathway across the beach is nothing more than a beautification project, which obstructed the tide flow. The authorities were not ready to believe us when we questioned the wall and today the tides have washed it away. Playing with nature would lead to disastrous results. Today, we have the proof as nature gave us the warning.” The next hearing about the sea wall in NGT is scheduled on October 17.