The 600-metre sea wall built by the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) on Aksa Beach, Malad, has begun to cave in due to the impact of tidal water. B N Kumar, director of NGO NatConnect Foundation, and activist Zoru Bhathena, who moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the structure, stated that the wall is “anti-nature” as it interferes with tidal flow.

Now, one can see gaping holes all along the wall, Kumar said and sent a fresh missive to the chief minister, calling for the demolition of the “ill-conceived wall” to allow the free flow of tides. The MMB had argued that it built the wall to protect the coast from erosion, but the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), in its coastal regulation zone (CRZ) nod, stipulated in its condition number one that there should be no solid construction in the tidal influential area and CRZ-1.