Goregaon-Mulund Link Road gets forest department nod.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is only a step away from starting work on its Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project. The civic body had written to the State government asking it to waive the condition of compensatory afforestation citing that no tree is to be cut inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). This contention has been accepted by the State and forwarded to the Centre. The project now needs a final approval from a regional expert committee.

The GMLR was first proposed in the 1960s as an east-west connector. Since then, the city has had multiple connectors, but the GMLR did not materialise. The BMC has set aside ₹100 crore in this year’s annual budget for the project, which is estimated to cost ₹3,000 crore. The road will be 14-km long and consist of a 4.7-km underground tunnel passing underneath the SGNP. It will begin at Oberoi Mall and end at the Eastern Express Highway beyond Nahur station.

The BMC required multiple clearances for the underground tunnels and the most crucial one, that of the National Board of Wildlife, came in February. The next step was to get a clearance from the State Forest department.

Since there was no policy in place for projects that go beyond 3 metre under forest land, the forest department went with the existing rules for mining projects and demanded compensation of 48 acres. The department insisted on compensatory afforestation. However, the Director of SGNP had certified that compensatory afforestation is not needed as the tunnels pass under the SGNP. Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta wrote to the department in February last week, pointing out that no tree was being cut.

Based on the BMC letter, no compensatory afforestation shall be insisted upon, said the State government in its letter to the additional principle conservator of forests of the Government of India.

A senior BMC officer said, “We hope to start work in October.”

Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forest in the Maharashtra government said, “We have forwarded the proposal to the Government of India. [The BMC] had given in writing that they do not require any surface rights [to the land under which the tunnel will pass]. Now it is up to [the Centre] to take a final decision about compensatory land.”

The tunnel’s entry and exit are outside forest limits, and it does not require air vents.

When asked if the State will come up with a policy policy for non-mining projects passing under forest land, Mr. Tiwari said that it is up to the Central government.

Hindu