3,520 more trees to be axed for Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train

The Union environment ministry’s regional empowered committee (REC) in Nagpur has given permission to the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) to fell these trees in addition to the 14,555 trees that were slated to be axed earlier and permissions for which were granted in 2019

Mumbai: The Centre has given a green signal for the felling of 3,520 additional trees on forest land in Thane district to make way for the upcoming Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train.

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The Union environment ministry’s regional empowered committee (REC) in Nagpur has given permission to the National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC) to fell these trees in addition to the 14,555 trees that were slated to be axed earlier and permissions for which were granted in 2019.

The REC had, in December 2022, deferred the NHSRC’s request for additional tree felling and instated a committee to investigate why this was required. It emerged that the discrepancy was due to a “positive error of sampling methodology”, which essentially means that the trees were simply undercounted at the time of enumeration.

Subsequently, in May, the state government informed the Centre about the additional requirement, permission for which was granted earlier this month, as per the minutes of the REC meeting dated June 14.

These trees, it should be noted, will be felled in addition to around 22,000 mangrove trees in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts, for which permission was granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in 2019, and the Bombay high court gave a permission in December 2022, pursuant to HC orders in 2004 and 2018.

Yet another 1,400 odd trees slated for clearing are located on 22 hectares of forest land across three villages—Betegaon, Valva and Shigaon—in Palghar. This land has been earmarked for the realignment of five major power lines that are getting in the way of the bullet train corridor and will have to be relocated, resulting in further loss of green cover.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad line is the first bullet train project in the country, of which 155 km will pass through Maharashtra. Around 23.5 km of the line passing through the state lies within the coastal regulation zone (CRZ).

Eleven types of mangrove species, the habitat of 177 species of resident and migratory birds, otters, turtles, fish, crabs, oysters, wild boar, monkeys, flying fox, fishing cats, civets, mongoose, wild cats etc. frequently enter the mangroves for feeding and shelter—will be directly affected by the project, according to an 85-page report by the Mangrove Society of India (MSI) from June 2018.

The report pointed out that reduced water quality, changes in hydrology and drainage, and noise pollution from the speed and sound of the train may pose another threat to intertidal habitats at the banks of the estuaries and creeks.