Prime 5.3-acre Prabhadevi plot freed from CRZ norms





Builder Gains As State Dubs Mahim A Bay

A developer of a prime Prabhadevi plot is the first major beneficiary of the state coastal authority's intriguing redefinition of the Mahim shore as a bay. The reclassification has virtually pulled builder Hubtown's 5.3-acre land out of the highly-restrictive coastal regulation zone (CRZ), unlocking its full development potential.

CRZ norms restrict construction activity up to 500m from the sea's high tide line. But the rules were qualified in an amendment three years ago. The amendment stipulated that seafronts would continue to get the same protection, but at bays the construction restriction would be reduced from 500m to just 100m. When the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) redefined the Mahim coast as a bay earlier this year, the builder quickly submitted a proposal to get its plot removed from CRZ and the 500m protection ring. Hubtown backed its application with a report from the Institute of Remote Sensing (IRS) in Chennai, showing the plot almost outside the 100m zone of the Mahim coast.

The builder's proposal "convinced" the authority , which approved it in a meeting in May end. "The IRS report shows a part of the plot in CRZ and a part outside it. The actual demarcation has been done by IRS.
The coastal authority accepted the IRS report and decided the CRZ status accordingly ," said a state environmental department official.

Officials said this is the first big instance of development enabled by the redefinition of Mahim as a "bay". In the wake of Mahim coast's reclassification as a bay—where environmental protections are weaker—government officials expect a rush of applications from builders across the city whose plots fall under coast regulation zone (CRZ).

Hubtown had purchased the defunct Hindoostan Mills in Prabhadevi for Rs 350 crore in 2007, but was unable to utilize the full development potential because of CRZ restrictions. Last year, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan cancelled an abnormally high floor space index (FSI) of 7.6 sanctioned by his predecessor for a hotel project on the property. The developer was eventually left

with a much-reduced FSI of 1.33 because of the CRZ restrictions.

Several of these impediments have got lifted because of the MCZMA's decision on Mahim coast. The plot was earlier reserved solely for industrial use and its status could not be changed to build residential buildings as it fell under CRZ. But now that it has been taken out of CRZ, its reservation can be changed for residential purposes.

Also, with the plot virtually removed from CRZ, the builder can now procure additional construction rights under the government's public parking policy. The state provides extra FSI to any builder who builds a public parking facility on a part of his land free of cost for the civ

ic administration.

Vimal Shah of Hubtown said the builder's immediate plan was to utilize the base FSI of 1.33 to build a residential complex instead of a hotel.

"It is shocking that environmental agencies are allowing builders to reduce the extent of the CRZ belt from 500 metres to 100 metres," said Debi Goenka, executive trustee of the Mumbai-based Conservation Action Trust.

"Unlike creeks and estuaries, the entire frontage of the bay is impacted by wave and tidal action twice a day.

Therefore the logic that was used to reduce the width of the CRZ along creeks from 500 metres to 100 metres obviously cannot be applied to bays," said Goenka.