Under Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra bullet train project gathers pace — 98% land acquired

On Friday, the project cleared another hurdle with the Bombay High Court allowing the plea of National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL) for the felling of 21,997 mangrove trees in Mumbai, Palghar and Thane to clear the route for the project “in public interest”, subject to conditions.

According to officials, around 98.2 per cent of the total land in Maharashtra stands acquired, while the rest is in the final stages.

By around the beginning of the year, around 244.63 hectares of the 433.82 hectares required in Maharashtra stood acquired with the rest of the process in limbo.

The state was under the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government from 2019. But after Shinde took oath as the Chief Minister in June-end, “the project has got the necessary priority in the government as well as political backing on the ground”, an official said.

This included forest clearance for land acquisition, a mandatory step, which was stuck at the state-government level for the past two years, the official said.

In Gujarat, meanwhile, 98.87 per cent of the 954.28 hectares needed has been acquired with the state removing various hurdles related to land acquisition a few years ago. In Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the 7.9 hectares of land needed was acquired several years ago.

After obtaining physical possession of the land at various locations, NHSRCL is going ahead with key milestones.

It has called for tenders for construction of the underground Mumbai station in the Bandra Kurla Complex. Last month, it opened technical bids from four contenders.

The delay in the land acquisition in Maharashtra coupled with the pandemic has pushed the start of the project by at least five years, and resulted in cost overrun.

As per original 2015 valuation, the total project was to cost around Rs 1.10 lakh crore.

In the Bombay High Court, meanwhile, a division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Abhay Ahuja refused a request by the NGO Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), an intervenor, to stay the operation of its order on the felling of mangrove trees.

The court, however, asked NHSRCL to strictly abide by its undertaking that it will comply with all conditions set out in approvals of the project, and assurances provided to court. The NHSRCL, for instance, had submitted that it paid the mangrove cell for planting nearly 2.5 lakh saplings as a compensatory measure.

(With Omkar Gokhale/Mumbai)