The Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) was registered as a Society on 25th April 1979 at the initiative of Shyam Chainani, Navroz Mody, Salim Ali, Kersi Naoroji, Saad Ali, S. K. Das, Kumar Advani and Farid Gulmohamed.

In 1974, a group of farmers and fishermen from Alibag approached some citizens involved in civil rights issues for assistance with a concern that there was talk that their lands were to be acquired by the government for setting up a factory in Alibag. On inquiry, it was found that there was a plan to locate a large petrochemical complex on the lands between Alibag town and Mandwa. Information was hard to come by, and other than the fact that lands would be acquired, the villagers were told nothing. The area was a serene landscape of agricultural and fishing villages along the coast and known to Mumbaikars as a convenient retreat from the bustle of urban life.