JUDGMENT :

Pradeep Nandrajog, J.

1. The Metropolitan City of Mumbai lies on the Western Coast of India by the bank of the Arabian Sea. Mumbai is made from the group of seven islands and is thus referred to as the Island city. These islands are Isle of Bombay, Mazgaon, Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Parel, Worli, and Salsette Island. The Eastern Coast of Salsette Island has rows of mangroves, whereas the Western Coast happens to be sandy and stony. Due to proximity to the sea, the soil cover of this region is sandy to a large extent. The underlying rocks of this area are made up of Black Deccan Basalt pours. The island city of Mumbai is divided into two distinct regions; the city and the suburbs. The suburbs have alluvial soil type. The major creeks found in Mumbai coast are Manori, Malad and Mahim which protrudes in the mainland and give rise to mudflats and swamps. The area is drained by Mahim, Mithi, Dahisar and Polsar rivers. These small rivers near the coast, form small rivulets which intermingle with each other resulting in swamps and mudflats in the low lying areas. It took over 150 years to join the original seven islands of Mumbai. These seven islands were lush green thickly wooded, and dotted with 22 hills, with the Arabian Sea washing through them at high tide. The first island of Mumbai was only 24 km long and 4 km wide from Dongri to Malabar Hill (at its broadest point), and the other six were Colaba, Old Woman's Island, Mahim, Parel, Worli, Mazgaon. After the British arrived, the demand for land steadily increased, and by 1730; it was becoming impossible to accommodate the entire population of Mumbai inside the Fort. The sea was making inroads at Worli, Mahim and Mahalaxmi, which turned the ground between the islands into a swamp, making travel between Mumbai islands hazardous. The first major reclamation took place in 1708, to construct the causeway between Mahim and Sion. The second major reclamation took place in 1772, to stop the ingress of water and the consequent flooding of central Mumbai, and to connect Mahalaxmi and Worli. This causeway was named Hornby Vellard, sealing the Great Breach (Breach Candy) between Dongri, Malabar hill and Worli. At the fortified Dongri hill, an esplanade and parade ground was cleared, from the walls of the Fort to the present-day Crawford market. The flatlands from Mahalaxmi to Kamathipura were reclaimed only after the completion of construction of Breach Candy by Hornby in 1784. In 1803, Mumbai was connected to Salsette by a causeway from Sion. The Thane and Colaba causeway was built during the tenure of Sir Robert Grant, the Governor of Mumbai. He was also responsible for the construction of several roads between Mumbai and the hinterland. The Colaba Causeway was completed in 1838 joining Colaba, Old Woman's island and the H-shaped island of Mumbai together. Land prices shot up, and Colaba became the centre of commerce. The Causeway was widened and strengthened from 1861 to 1863 (Cusrow Baug is built on the causeway). The horse-drawn tramcars revolutionised transport in Colaba. The Prongs Lighthouse was constructed off the island in 1875, and in the same year, the Sassoon Docks were built by David Sassoon on reclaimed land. The BB & CI (Bombay and Central India) Railways established a terminus at Colaba. Around 90,000 sq. yard of land was reclaimed on the Western shore of Colaba by the City Improvement Trust; the work was completed in 1905. A seaside promenade (Cuffe Parade) was completed the next year. The next reclamation took place in the year 1836 when the development of the Mumbai port had already begun. Major quarrying had already begun in 1870. The hills of Chinchpokli and Byculla were quarried and dumped into the sea, to fill the land near the railway line, the swamps and also the port to prevent the accumulation of stagnant water. The first railway line was laid in 1