Mumbai: The various development and infrastructure projects in Mumbai have also entailed felling of the little green cover this city has had. Numerous trees have already been felled for the Metro projects and now 2.9907 hectares of mangrove forest land will be destroyed for the construction of the casting yard for the Bandra Versova Sea Link (VBSL) project. For the VBSL construction, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the nodal agency for this project, has paid Rs 72 lakh to the state mangrove cell to carry out compensatory afforestation. This step was taken to avoid any legal issues, which could also lead to further delay of this project.
“The mangrove cell will look after the plantation on behalf of MSRDC or the agency appointed for VBSL. The decision has been taken to carry out proper plantation to avoid any controversy. Being an expert agency, we are confident they can achieve the plantation of mangroves and ensure its survival,” said the official. For the construction of the 10 kilometres project, VBSL will cut 1,585 mangrove trees and in lieu of this, MSRDC will have to plant mangroves at a new plot. A plot in Charkop in Kandivali has been identified for planting mangroves as compensatory afforestation.
The Bombay High Court also granted an approval on February 8, 2019 to carry out this work. MSRDC promised the court, in lieu of the destruction of 1,585 mangrove trees and diversion of 2.9907 hectare mangrove forest land, they will plant 13,332 mangrove trees – 4,444 plants per hectare. The proposed VBSL has been envisaged to reduce congestion on the Western Express Highway (WEH) and the Western Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railways.
The proposed eight-lane sea link will pass through Bandra, Juhu Koliwada, Versova and Carter Road. The cost of the project was originally estimated as Rs 4,045 crore in 2012. This escalated to Rs 7502 crore in the year 2015-2016, it is currently estimated to about Rs 11,332.82 crore. The project is expected to be completed in five years from its commencement. The Reliance Infrastructure consortium has been appointed to construct this sea link. The bridge is expected to reduce the travel time between Bandra and Versova to 10 minutes from 90 minutes.
