GS Paper - III

Earlier this month, the Centre approved the transfer of 256 acres of salt pan land in Mumbai to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL), a joint venture between Adani Realty Group and the Maharashtra government, for building rental housing for slum dwellers. This invited criticism from opposition leaders and environmentalists, who said that the decision to “benefit Adani” would damage the fragile ecosystem.

What are salt pan lands?

• They comprise parcels of low-lying lands where seawater flows in at certain times, and leaves behind salt and other minerals.
• Along with Mumbai’s mangroves (also at risk due to development), this ecosystem is instrumental in protecting the city from flooding.
• According to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification of 2011, the ecologically sensitive salt pans fall under CRZ-1B category, where no economic activity is allowed with the exception of salt extraction and natural gas exploration.
• In all, 5,378 acres of land in Mumbai have been designated as salt pan lands, approximately nine times the size of the Dharavi slum. About 31% of this land is located in residential and commercial belts, and roughly 480 acres are encroached upon, a 2014 study by the state government found.
• The same study found that about 1,672 acres of Mumbai’s more than 5,000 acres of salt pan lands are “developable”.
• Nationally, some 60,000 acres have been demarcated as salt pan lands, spread across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Gujarat, and Karnataka. Andhra Pradesh (20,716 acres) boasts the largest expanse of such land, followed by Tamil Nadu (17,095 acres) and Maharashtra (12,662 acres).

Why are Mumbai’s salt pan lands at risk?

• Land is at a premium in Mumbai. Salt pans are among the last “undeveloped” parcels of land, thus far protected by the Ministry of Environment and Forests under the stringent CRZ norms.
• But this has not stopped state governments from trying to acquire these lands from the Centre, for various development projects.
• Chief among these has been the development of low-cost housing for Mumbai’s slum-dwellers, a part of former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s plan to create a “slum-free Mumbai”.
• In 2015, Fadnavis zeroed in on 400 acres of salt pan land along the Eastern Express highway in Mulund to relocate slums under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme.
• The state government also planned to use much of the remaining 5,000 acres of salt pan land for affordable housing.

Why do salt pans matter?

• Environmentalist Stalin D, director of NGO Vanashakti, said that construction over salt pan lands will result in flooding in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs.
• Salt pans are situated in low-lying areas, and water received during heavy rain gets accumulated here.
• Water from Thane creek also flows in during high tide and gets collected in the salt pans, preventing flooding in the eastern suburbs.
• If the salt pans are covered owing to construction, areas like Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg, and Bhandup will definitely go underwater during heavy rain.
• Salt pans, which, along with the mangroves, stop the city from flooding, also host various species of birds and insects.