Development near rivers: Maharashtra govt amends guidelines, allows ‘public’ construction between blue & red line

Under criticism over its failure to protect rivers, the Maharashtra Irrigation Department on Thursday amended its guidelines on development in the restrictive zone of rivers. The guidelines allow construction on land between the blue line and red line of rivers for public purposes, like roads, while putting the onus for the loss of life or property during floods on the authority giving permission for land use. Red lines and blue lines are artificial lines demarcating the river area on the floodline. The red line is decided on the maximum water level possibly once in 100 years and blue line is on maximum flood discharge in average 25 years. The prohibitive zone is the area between the two blue lines on the opposite side of the river, while the restrictive zone is the area between the blue line and red line. The guidelines for development in the restrictive zone as well as prohibitive zone of rivers were first issued on September 21, 1989, and had not been amended since then.