In a relief to several stalled development projects across the state, the Union environment ministry has reconstituted a crucial state committee that screens proposals in the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), a little over a month after the previous panel’s tenure expired. As per official data, 117 project proposals, including sea-front residences, are waiting to be assessed for a CRZ clearance by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). An approval from the MCZMA is required for all construction and infrastructure projects on land up to 500 metres from the high-tide line, which are considered to be ecologically sensitive in all coastal belts of Maharashtra. The three-year term of the previous MCZMA expired on March 5, after which the state environment department had within four days sent a proposal to the Union environment ministry for the authority’s reconstitution.Even as the committee was reconstituted on April 13, the department was yet to schedule a meeting of the panel until Tuesday. One of the first things that Sitaram Kunte who took charge as principal secretary (environment) on Monday, did was to set up a meeting and take a count of the pendency of cases. The 12-member MCZMA, which Kunte as environment secretary will head, will have its next meeting on May 5. “The list of pending projects is a mix of public and private projects such as additions or alterations to existing buildings, rainsheds, construction of jetties, residential projects, infrastructure projects and so on. My priority will be speedy clearances without compromising on the due diligence,” Kunte said. The backlog before the MCZMA includes a Rs 227-crore proposal for a maze of flyovers to improve connectivity from the Bandra Kurla Complex to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, Kalanagar junction and the Western Express Highway. The project, viewed as a catalyst to the business district’s positioning as a global finance centre, is on the agenda for the discussion on May 5. Also pending for clearance are about 60 sea-front projects, mostly super luxury residences, along Mumbai’s western shoreline after the redefinition of the Mahim shore as a ‘bay.’ As per the CRZ notification of 2011, development on land abutting bays is restricted in only up to 100 metres from the high-tide line.