Mumbai, June 24: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the State government on a plea by environmental NGO Vanashakti alleging that mandatory compensatory afforestation measures linked to the felling of thousands of mangroves for the proposed Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road project have not been properly implemented.
The NGO has contended that while large-scale mangrove cutting for the project is underway, authorities have failed to demonstrate compliance with afforestation conditions that formed a key basis for the project’s approval.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad directed the BMC and the State to file affidavits and posted the matter for hearing on July 15.
NGO Raises Afforestation Concerns
Senior advocate Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for Vanashakti, submitted that the NGO was not seeking cancellation of the coastal road project or attempting to obstruct its execution. Instead, it was seeking enforcement of the afforestation obligations that were required to be carried out before, or simultaneously with, the felling of mangroves.
Referring to the Supreme Court’s March 2026 order declining to interfere with the High Court’s approval of the project, Dhond said, “It is imperative that compensatory afforestation be carried out.”
He argued that although the Forest Department’s website claimed afforestation and mangrove transplantation had been undertaken, an independent or neutral mechanism was necessary to verify whether the work had actually been completed on the ground.
“While tree cutting is going on in full swing, our complaint is that the afforestation is only lip service,” Dhond submitted.
BMC Seeks Time To Respond
Senior advocate Vineet Naik, appearing for the BMC, sought time to respond to the allegations. He argued that the issues raised in the interim application had already been considered by the Supreme Court while disposing of Vanashakti’s appeal against the High Court’s December 2025 order permitting mangrove felling for the project.
Naik submitted that the High Court had already established a monitoring framework requiring annual reports on afforestation for the next 10 years. “Every single ground raised in the SLP is now sought to be agitated in the interim application,” he argued.
He further told the court that the project proponent had deposited the necessary funds and that compensatory plantation would exceed the number of mangroves being felled. “Three times more plantation will be carried out,” Naik said.
State To File Compliance Affidavit
Advocate General Milind Sathe, representing the State government, informed the court that the authorities would file an affidavit detailing compliance with the conditions imposed for the project. He also questioned the NGO’s locus to maintain the application.
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The Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road project, estimated to cost Rs 18,263 crore and slated for completion by March 2029, was cleared by the High Court in December 2025 after the court accepted the authorities’ proposal to undertake compensatory afforestation for mangroves affected by the project.
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