In a blatant violation of environmental norms, heavy machinery is being used to dig up the base of the landslide-prone Parsik Hill in Belapur, Navi Mumbai, green groups have reported.
“What’s even more shocking is that this hill-cutting is taking place right across from the headquarters of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) of Maharashtra,” NatConnect Foundation stated in a complaint to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Parsik Hill is home to over a hundred buildings, including the Mayor’s bungalow, and the residences of the Municipal and Police commissioners are situated at the base. Despite this, authorities seem indifferent to the potential dangers, said NatConnect director B. N. Kumar.
A study by IIT-Bombay last year highlighted that the slopes of Parsik Hill are unstable and prone to landslides. In fact, a landslide two years ago severely damaged a civic water distribution control room.
A Belapur resident Amit Gupta recently shared a video on his X platform account showing the ongoing hill cutting. He warned, “Relentless cutting of Parsik Hill in Sector 30/31 CBD Belapur by a school project may cause landslides, endangering the residents of Sector 26 atop the hill.”
Former Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nahata, now a Shiv Sena (Shinde) leader, reposted Gupta's message, tagging CIDCO, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB).
Activist Jyoti Nadkarni of Kharghar Hill and Wetlands voiced her surprise over a school's involvement in the destruction, questioning, “Is this how we are going to teach our children about the environment?”
Kumar urged Nahata, who previously chaired the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), to raise the issue with Mantralaya.
Last year, the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) took suo motu notice of media reports about the dangerous cutting of Parsik Hill, which threatened the buildings on top. After being reprimanded by the Commission, CIDCO admitted that a private builder had violated lease conditions, leading to the termination of the agreement. Yet, NatConnect noted that CIDCO has now allotted a plot for a school at the bottom of the hill.
Nadkarni lamented that CIDCO consistently disregards environmental protection, whether it’s Parsik Hill, Belapur, or Kharghar Hills. She called for increased public awareness about these dangers and questioned how often ordinary citizens must turn to the courts for environmental justice.