Mumbai: The BMC has received the Stage II clearance- the final approval from Ministry of Enviornment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for the diversion of 103.6554 hectares of Forest (Mangrove) land for the Versova to Bhayandar link road (Coastal Road North) project. The authorities can now speed up the mangroves removal and construction activities, aiming to complete the project by December 2028.
"We have received the Stage II Enviornment Clearance. It has also put to rest the complaints by activists and residents that authorities are cutting mangroves without final approval. So far only mangroves on the peripheral area and also had working permission for the same," said a BMC officer privy to the project.
He added that the compensatory afforestation of 1.37 lakh mangroves will be done on total 255 hectares of land. Plantations on 31 hectares of land in Bhayandar has begun and plantations on 244 hectares in Palghar will begin soon.
Although the BMC claims that with working permission, mangroves on only peripheral areas are removed, enviornment activists and local residents claim that mangroves have been cut under the garb of working permission. Director of Vanashakti, Stalin D said, "The forest department was actively involved in chopping down large swathes of mangroves even without MoEF stage 2 clearances. The entire process was a farce."
"Despite violations of stage 1 clearances having been shown and also the violations of the orders, misleading of the High Court, MoEFCC still went ahead and gave permissions. The loss to the environment in this project is phenomenal and could have been avoided. Citizens who tried hard to save the mangroves have been let down by the system and that is deeply disappointing," Stalin added.
"Massive mangrove belt at Malad West are been cut for Coastal Road North project. Seeing the green cover destruction, we fear that the area will drown by 2030," a resident said.
The Coastal Road North, also known as Versova Bhayandar Link Road connects to the Versova Bandra sea link (VBLR). The work of VBLR is carried by MSDRC and so far not more than 35% work is completed. The deadline to complete this project is September 2028. With the Coastal Road North also aimed to be completed by December 2028, the authorities plan to start the entire strech with the connectors by mid-2029.
Once completed, motorists can travel from Marine drive (Coastal Road South) to Bhayandar signal-free, saving them from the city traffic.
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