Mumbai: A letter from Maharashtra’s Ports and Fisheries Minister, BJP leader Nitesh Rane, to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), asking it to hand over land reclaimed for the coastal road project back to Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) has stirred up a row in the state.
At the centre of the controversy are the large swathes of land created along Mumbai’s coastline by filling up the sea.
Rane’s letter, dated 25 March, to BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani had suggested that the reclaimed land from Raj Bhavan to Worli in Mumbai for the project could be used by his department for exploration of commercial uses.
“Necessary action should be taken by the BMC regarding the transfer of these lands to MMB for the commercial purposes, such as hoardings and events. This will create additional revenue for MMB and increase the income,” the letter read.
This has drawn flak from Opposition leaders and activists, and even from within the BJP, raising concerns over the possibility of commercial exploitation.
Those opposing such a move have said that the promise of using reclaimed land purely for public good was why the Union environment ministry had amended Coastal Regulation Zone norms in 2019 for the coastal road project and allowed reclamation, which until then was banned.
However, after being slammed, Rane said that his letter was being “misinterpreted”.
My letter to the @mybmc has been misinterpreted!
As expected !
anyways.. it’s just a simple letter asking the BMC to have a revenue sharing model IF it does come up with any revenue generation measures like hoarding or events of any kind.
MMB is NOT asking for any land or…— Nitesh Rane (@NiteshNRane) March 26, 2025
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Land earmarked for landscaping, green spaces
For the construction of the coastal road, BMC had reclaimed 111 hectares of land, of which 70 hectares were earmarked for landscaping and open spaces.
Back in 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change had strictly asked BMC not to use the reclaimed land for commercial purposes, and ensure that open spaces are protected against encroachments, public events, illegal parking, hawkers, religious structures, street vendors or illegal occupants.
The ministry had also said that the coastal ecology of the area should be protected, while adding that no human intervention should be permitted in the CRZ area beyond the reclaimed land. With the environmental clearance, BMC was further told that the proposed green spaces should be developed with concepts, like butterfly garden or a botanical garden, which can be of educational value to the public.
However, the project ran into multiple hurdles. In July 2019, the Bombay High Court said that the clearances granted by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), and the expert appraisal committee of the environment ministry were “illegal” and quashed them. However, as an exception, it upheld the notification amending CRZ norms to allow reclamation for roads in exceptional cases.
The same year in December, the Supreme Court stayed the high court order. It allowed the construction of the coastal road, but stayed any other development work.
Last year, according to a BMC letter dated 19 December, 2024—a copy of which was accessed by ThePrint—the civic body sought Expressions of Interest for development and maintenance of parks, gardens, waterbodies, cycle and pedestrian pathways on approximately 53 hectares. The bulk of this landscaping will be sea-facing.
BMC has planned a promenade, stretching across approximately 7 km from Priyadarshini Park to Worli, with cycle tracks, jogging tracks, seating arrangements, and multiple green patches, like shrubs, palm trees, etc.
Fears of ‘exploitation’ of reclaimed land
After Rane’s letter to BMC, Zoru Bhatena, a Mumbai-based environmental activist wrote to him Wednesday that the environment ministry had said in 2017 that the land could not be used for commercial or residential purposes.
He requested that the decision be withdrawn, adding that the coastal road should not be used for any commercial purposes as that would violate CRZ norms.
“We have seen it happen with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, where they had similarly said that the reclaimed land would not be used for commercial purposes, but 20 years down the line, it has been exploited. If not today, then someday, we fear they will exploit the land reclaimed for coastal road as well,” Bhatena told ThePrint.
For the Bandra-Worli Sea Link project, 27 hectares of land was reclaimed. In 2024, a 24-acre patch near the Bandra reclamation toll plaza area was opened for commercial purposes against which Bhatena had filed a Public Interest Litigation in the high court.
Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation had issued a tender in January last year for the development of a 57-acre parcel, of which 29 acres are reserved for social amenities, roads and gardens, while 28 acres are available for development. Adani Realty won the contract.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray and Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief Varsha Gaikwad have levelled allegations of land grab.
Thackeray wrote in a post on X: “Hearing that some Dalaals of builders are asking for the open space of the South Bound Coastal Road we (erstwhile MVA government) planned and initiated for Mumbai. NO! Mumbaikars won’t hand it over to you! This land belongs to us—Mumbaikars—and not for handing it over to the dalaals of builders.”
Hearing that some Dalaals of builders are asking for the open space of the South Bound Coastal Road we planned and initiated for Mumbai.
NO!
Mumbaikars won’t hand it over to you!This land belongs to us- Mumbaikars and not for handing it over to the dalaals of builders.…
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) March 26, 2025
Gaikwad also took to X to say that both the state and central governments had “assured Mumbaiites that the reclaimed land would be developed and maintained exclusively as public open space—a much-needed green lung for Mumbai”.
“This government is busy selling Mumbai’s future, snatching public land meant for parks, promenades, and green spaces, and handing it over to its builder-friends and land mafia,” she wrote.
🚨 WARNING FOR MUMBAIKARS: ANOTHER MEGA LAND SCAM UNFOLDING! 🚨
More than 111 hectare land was reclaimed from the Arabian Sea to build the Mumbai Coastal Road. At the time, both the Maharashtra and the Central governments had assured Mumbaikars that this reclaimed land would NOT… https://t.co/aQTNaVXfCI
— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) March 26, 2025
Even Mumbai Suburban’s guardian minister, BJP’s Ashish Shelar, remarked on the matter: “While giving its clearance (for the reclamation), the Ministry of Environment and Forests had said that there could be no commercial exploitation. This land has to be kept open to the sky. No structure can be constructed.”
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
