HC allows BMC to cut 1,237 mangroves to build Versova-Madh Island bridge

The proposed two-kilometre-long, four-lane cable-stayed bridge is expected to reduce the road distance between Versova and Madh Island by over 20 km and cut travel time from over an hour to 8-10 minutes

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to fell 1,237 mangroves to construct a bridge over the Malad Creek that will establish direct road connectivity between Versova and Madh Island, observing that it was “necessary and expedient for public good and in public interest”.

The BMC had to approach the high court for permission to fell the mangroves due to a previous order issued in September 2018 that restrained all non-forest activities in mangrove forests and within a 50-metre buffer zone around them. (Pic for representation/Hindustan Times)

A division bench of chief justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and justice Advait Sethna noted that the proposed two-kilometre-long, four-lane cable-stayed bridge is expected to reduce the road distance between Versova and Madh Island by over 20 km and cut travel time from over an hour to 8-10 minutes.

The bench clarified that it was allowing the felling of mangroves and the diversion of a mangrove forest not merely because it was characterised as a public project, but due to the combination of factors—its public utility, environmental assessment, permissions granted by statutory authorities, and the restoration cum compensatory measures proposed by the civic body.

The BMC had to approach the high court for permission to fell the mangroves due to a previous order issued in September 2018 that restrained all non-forest activities in mangrove forests and within a 50-metre buffer zone around them.

The new alignment affects around 2.5 hectares of mangrove forest, of which 0.5 hectares are slated to be lost permanently and around 2 hectares are to be restored after the work on the bridge is completed.

The BMC’s counsel, Aspi Chinoy, told the court that the bridge will be aligned with a 27.45-metre-wide development plan (DP) road and the Mumbai Coastal Road. The new bridge and the DP road will help divert a significant share of traffic from SV Road and Link Road, and significantly reduce traffic congestion and accidents on the New Link Road, she said.

Chinoy also said that the civic body had obtained all necessary permissions for the construction of the bridge. It has deposited ₹1.42 crore with the Maharashtra forest department’s mangroves cell for compensatory afforestation, involving the planting of 39,000 mangroves across nine hectares, she added.

The counsel for Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG), whose public interest litigation had led to the September 2018 order, argued that the authorities did not take into account the project’s environmental impact when granting clearances for the bridge.

However, the high court said that the project served a genuine public purpose by improving connectivity between Madh Island and Mumbai’s western suburbs. “The project is clearly not one undertaken for a private commercial purpose or for the benefit of a particular private entity,” the bench said.

“The proposed bridge is aimed at providing some respite to the Mumbaikars from the menace of inordinate delays in travel due to traffic jams/congestion on such widely used roads of the city,” it added.

An important factor, it said, was that the bridge would cut the travel distance between Versova and Madh Island from 22 km to around 1.5 km.