Tirupati Balaji Temple plot in flood hazard line; Greens cry foul by CIDCO

Environmentalists have found a fault line of sorts with the 10-acre plot allotted for the replica temple of Tirupati Venkateswara Swamy, also worshiped as Balaji, being built at Ulwe Coast in Navi Mumbai.

A hazard line runs through the plot as per the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) as approved by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC), claimed NatConnect Foundation director B. N. Kumar. “This indicates that the area is flood-prone, and it vindicates our stand that the temple is being built in an ecologically fragile zone with the authorities neglecting the environmental aspects,” said Kumar, who has already moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to take up the issue.

The revelation came to light during a multi-agency site inspection led by Panvel deputy tahsildar Sambhaji Shelar, following a directive from the High Court-appointed Mangrove Protection and Conservation Committee. NatConnect has been actively filing complaints with the High Court panel and the Chief Minister before moving the NGT, underscoring the environmental impact of the project.

NatConnect pointed out that the temple plot has taken out the 19-hectare casting yard that was built on a temporary basis on mangroves, wetlands, and mudflats for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL). The biodiversity area should have been restored after the scrapping of the casting yard, as the MTHL work is nearing completion, Kumar said.

On the contrary, CIDCO is converting a temporary landfill into a permanent landfill for commercial gain. The temple plot is only the beginning, as the remaining vast area would also be leased out by CIDCO, ignoring all environmental concerns, Kumar said.

A CIDCO’s planning department official, who was carrying the site maps, confirmed to NatConnect the blue hazard line that cuts into the temple layout. “When I asked if it is not a risky proposition to have the temple in a flood-prone hazard line, the CIDCO official said now it is up to the MCZMA to decide,” Kumar disclosed.

The inspection team report is expected in a couple of days, Shelar said, and he commented that he would just put down the factual position of the site. Kumar claimed that a CIDCO planning department official confirmed the hazard line. However, the official stated that the decision now rests with the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). The inspection team report, expected in a few days, will outline the factual position of the site.

Critics argue that MCZMA did not address the temporary casting yard aspect when granting a conditional Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) nod for the temple, as revealed in the authority's meeting minutes cited by Kumar in his submission to the NGT.

Local fishing communities, represented by Vaibhav Koli, joined NatConnect at the site, expressing concern over the loss of their fishing grounds due to development projects. Both Kumar and Koli clarified that their opposition was not against the temple itself but its location, urging authorities to consider alternative sites that spare mangroves and wetlands.

Nandakumar Pawar, president of the Small Scale Fishermen Union, accused CIDCO of displacing fishing communities in the name of development, contributing to environmental degradation. The controversy highlights the ongoing challenge of balancing development with environmental conservation in urban planning.

MCZMA (Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority) has not discussed the temporary casting yard aspect while recommending a conditional CRZ nod for the temple, Kumar informed the NGT, quoting the authority’s minutes of the meeting.

A team of local fishing community led by Vaibhav Koli also joined NatConnect at the site and explained to the inspection team that they used to practice fishing in the same area only five years ago before the casting yard was built. “We were hopeful of MMRDA vacating the area, allowing us to resume fishing,” Koli said, and regretted that CIDCO has started leasing out the land.

Both Kumar and Koli asserted that they are not against the temple, which could be built anywhere else in the city, sparing mangroves and wetlands. Nandakumar Pawar, president of the Small Scale Fishermen Union, said VIDCO has been habitually displacing the fishing community under the guise of development, which is also destroying the environment.

It is highly regrettable that urban planners such as CIDCO have miserably failed to learn lessons from nature's fury because of human follies in playing with the environment.