The Bombay High Court on December 12 granted permission to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to fell and transplant up to 45,000 mangrove trees for the proposed 26.5-km Mumbai Coastal Road project. It aims to connect Versova in the western suburbs with Bhayander in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to the north.
Civic officials said that obtaining the court’s order was a crucial step for the project and that now that the order is in place, civil works, including the movement of machinery to initiate excavation, will begin.
NOC from forest department
Now that the court’s order is in place, the civic authorities will approach the state forest department for a no-objection certificate (NOC) to begin the work.
“Since the project involves civil works to be carried out within the mangrove zones, we will have to take a final work permission from the forest department. This permission was to be issued only after the court gave the go-ahead for carrying out the work,” a senior official privy to this project told The Indian Express. The official said that the permission will be in by this month, and the civil works will begin either by the end of December or the first week of December.
Officials said that, in the first step, all sites where major excavation work will be undertaken will be identified, including those where pillars for the bridges will be erected. Additionally, the alignment of roads and land parcels will be identified, with utility lines passing beneath and over them. Following this, the utility lines, including electric supply cables and gas supply lines, among others, will be shifted to an alternate location by the authorities to ensure no disruption to the supply.
“The project site will be divided into two portions. One where the actual work, such as the construction of pillars and the digging of tunnels, will be undertaken. While the other area will involve an Influence Zone Area (IZA) which will include temporary structures that will be constructed, alongside the upcoming project,” an official said.
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BMC’s attempt towards afforestation
While granting permission to the civic authorities, the HC also said it would keep the plea pending for 10 years, allowing the BMC to file an annual update on compensatory plantation.
The civic body stated that 102 hectares of mangrove land will be affected by the project. The overall patch includes more than 60,000 mangroves, out of which 45,000 will be affected, with 9,000 mangrove trees being cut in their entirety, while the remaining trees are transplanted.
For a coastal city like Mumbai, mangrove forests are vital ecosystems that act as natural buffers from coastal erosion, tidal flooding, and storm surges, protecting shorelines and communities. The dense root systems stabilise sediments and reduce the impact of waves and currents.
The eastern and western shores of Mumbai have significant mangrove patches, designated as mangrove zones. However, with increased encroachment and infrastructure development, these patches have also seen a reduction in density over the past few decades.
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Civic officials said that to make way for compensatory afforestation, trees will be planted in Mira-Bhayander. In July this year, the BMC leased a 15-acre plot at Borivali, where a mangrove nursery will be created.
The primary idea behind leasing these lands is to plant mangrove saplings on them, which will grow up to full-grown mangroves within a few years. After that, the grown mangroves could be transplanted in areas where there might have been a shortfall or may be allowed to grow on these nurseries, depending on the nature of the requirement.
“We have acquired a 100-acre land at Maharashtra’s Chandrapur, where compensatory plantation of mangroves will be carried out. Besides this, we will also transplant the affected mangroves as well as the grown saplings in patches between Borivali and Mira Bhayander,” the official added.
Alongside this, the principal chief conservator of forest has also earmarked an 84-hectare land parcel in the Palghar, Dahanu, and Boisar areas, and authorities maintained that around 1.3 lakh mangroves will be planted on these land parcels over the next ten years.
