Coastal violations: CAG red-flags Udupi, Mangaluru projects

From building a road in a no-development-zone in Udupi to a hotel in Mangalore; from the construction of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj off Nariman Point in Mumbai to destruction of Olive Ridley turtle nest in Odisha and Goa – dozens of projects violate India’s coastal zone regulations, the Comptroller and Auditor General says in a new report.

The project proponents range from big private players like the Tata or Adani group to lesser known firms as well government agencies in the coastal states. The CAG has found more than 180 instances of violation while reviewing the implementation of the Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 2019.

In Udupi a road and two bridges were built in the islands of Shambhavi River without obtaining the CRZ clearance. Also mangrove plantations were destroyed for construction of the road.

Though a show cause notice was issued to the state works department, no follow up action was taken by Karnataka State Coastal Zone Management Authority, the CAG said in its report after verifying the existence of the road.

The Expert Appraisal Committee recommended clearing a hotel project in Mangalore without the hotel fulfilling its obligation of shifting the parking area beyond the no development zone of 200 m from the high tide line of Gurupur river.

The audit watchdog not only identified flaws in CRZ implementation but found that in several cases, the regulatory bodies overlooked their own norms. “Instances were observed where the EAC granted clearances, though domain experts were not present during the project deliberations,” it noted.

Discharge of untreated sewage water directly into the sea in 11 out of 12 cities in coastal Karnataka is another violation highlighted in the report.

Out of the 12 Urban Local Bodies, only Mangalore City Corporation had a sewage network to cover 100 per cent of its area with four treatment plants. The City Municipal Council of Udupi, Karwar and Bhatkal had a partial sewerage network that catered to only 25 per cent, 14 per cent and 25 per cent area respectively.

The remaining eight cities – Ullal, Mulki, Kuap, Kundapura, Saligrama, Honnaver, Kumta and Ankola depend on either individual septic tanks or soak-pits to treat sewage. More than 7.5 million litres of untreated sewage water is discharged daily into the sea, the CAG noted, quoting a Karnataka State Pollution Control Board report.

Two other Karnataka-specific violations are on the construction of four additional berths in New Mangalore port and a petroleum product storage terminal at Karwar.

There are plenty of such examples outside Karnataka too. They include irregular construction of a jail complex at an Olive Ridley turtle nesting site in Puri district of Odisha, the Union Environment Ministry granting clearance to the expansion of Adani’s Dahej port in Gujarat without verifying if the area is biologically inactive as claimed by the company, and Tata Chemicals and Tata Steel presenting outdated data while seeking CRZ clearance for their projects in Gujarat and Odisha.

India has a coastline of 7,516 km of which 5,422 km is in the mainland. The CRZ regulations were brought to protect the coastal ecology which includes coastal waters, mangroves, coral reef, sea grass, mud flats, estuaries, backwaters, lagoons and sand dunes.