With a view to getting the environment ministry’s nod to wash metro rakes and carry out repair works at the proposed metro car depot at Charkop, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will submit a new proposal in which treated sewage water from the depot will be released directly into the sea. The move is aimed at saving mangroves in the area from being destroyed due to polluted sewage water from the depot.  

While granting conditional environmental clearance to the car depot for the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd metro corridor, the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) had denied permission to wash rakes and carry out repair works. The ministry had also asked the MMRDA to build the depot on stilts to prevent destruction of the mangroves.      

“We now have a solution in which sewage water will be released directly into the sea after treatment so that the mangroves remain unharmed. We will submit a proposal to the MoEF in this regard to obtain permission for washing of rakes and carrying out repair work at the depot,” said a senior MMRDA official, requesting anonymity. The new proposal was reportedly chalked out based on the recommendations of the MoEF.

Meanwhile, the MMRDA has initiated steps to terminate its contract with the Reliance Infra-led consortium as the two parties have been embroiled in a blame game resulting in zero development of the metro line since January 2010, when the contract was signed.

“Even if the existing contract gets cancelled, we can use environmental clearance for the Charkop depot in future. The two issues are not interlinked,” said the official.