The plan to convert vast swathes of no development zone (NDZ) in the coastal regions of Gorai, Manori and Uttan into a Tourism Development Zone has come in for severe criticism from activists, who have suggested that the belt be opened up for creation of affordable housing instead.

The Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) has written to the Chief Minister, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) commissioner and the principal secretary of the state urban development department about the ‘flawed’ policy that is currently under consideration.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan has written a letter to the Centre seeking immediate environment clearance for the Rs8,000-crore coastal road project in Mumbai. In his letter to Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan, the CM has requested the Centre to relax the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms to enable the state reclaim the land along the seashore for road widening between Nariman Point and Kandivli.
“Chavan has sought an appointment with Natarajan next week where he will discuss the project, which is high on his agenda,” sources in the state government said.

MUMBAI: The state government seems to have finally hit upon the idea of trading in scarce land as equity for slum redevelopment in areas governed by coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms. S Zende-Patil , chief executive officer of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), proposed to the government to use land and floor space index ( FSI) of 3 offered for shanty redevelopment as its "equity" .

Currently, for a slum redevelopment scheme, the developer has to pay 25% of the ready reckoner rate as premium for the encroached land.

The World Bank-aided Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project, aiming to provide solution for better management of coastal zone, is expected to be completed in Gujarat by 2015.

The pilot project, launched along with similar ones in West Bengal and Odisha, will also enable Jamnagar improve its underground sewage network along with setting up a water treatment plant of 71 million litres a day (MLD) and help proper sanitation for more than five lakh population of the coastal area off the Gulf of Kutch.

Malaysia is one of the few countries that share Dubai’s obsession with manmade islands and grandeur. We have often cast a critical eye on the Emirate’s core developers for building artificial islands that have wrecked havoc on the Gulf’s marine environment, but the danger doesn’t end there.

A special beach nourishment project to recreate the coastline has been introduced by the Coast Conservation Department (CCD) for the first time in Sri Lanka to combat coastal erosion, CCD Deputy Director (Planning) Gamini Hewage told the Daily News..
He noted that a one km coastal stretch from Palliyawatte to Uswetakeyyawa had initially been selected to carry out this project.
Under this project, sand pumped from the deep sea will be used to fill the coastline recreating the beach. This is done using a sand pump vessel.

With the Rs 8,000-crore coastal road proposal now firming up to replace the earlier Rs 20,000-crore sea link-tunnel-road plan between Malad and Nariman Point, Mumbaikars could look forward to cheaper toll and for a lesser period. A senior transport expert said the coastal road toll would be just a third of that estimated for the sea link. "As per our estimates, the one-way toll on the sea-link plan between Malad and Nariman Point could have been Rs 450 for each car. Now, as per the new coastal road plan, it would be Rs 150 to Rs 175," said a senior state government official.