Leopard habitat at risk as plan to widen SH-42 gains ground

The Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has submitted plans to widen the highway to up to 60 metres from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel on Ghodbunder Road

MUMBAI: More than 10 hectares of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park could be affected by a proposal to widen State Highway 42 between Gaimukh and Fountain Hotel and construct Metro Line 10 along the stretch, raising fresh concerns over the future of the city’s leopard habitat. The proposal comes despite nearly 40 leopards reportedly being killed by speeding vehicles and trucks on the highway over the past decade.

Mumbai, India - June 15, 2018: Two leopard cubs Tara and Suraj were rescued from Ahmednagar after being abandoned by their mother,Cubs seen playing in rescue center of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali in Mumbai, India, on Friday, June 15, 2018. (Photo by Pramod Thakur/Hindustan Times) (Pramod Thakur/HT Photo)

The Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has submitted plans to widen the highway to up to 60 metres from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel on Ghodbunder Road. Metro Line 10, from Gaimukh and Bhaindarpada village to Kashimira Naka, is also planned along the route.

The metro line was earlier proposed to have an underground section, but that plan has now been scrapped. The alignment will instead run parallel to Gaimukh Ghat and on the proposed widened road, officials said.

Anita Patil, director of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, confirmed that an initial meeting had been held with the zonal officer in Nagpur regarding the proposal.

Mira Bhayander municipal commissioner Radha Binod Sharma said plans had been submitted and approvals were being sought from the forest department and for CRZ clearances.

MBMC mayor Dimple Mehta said the civic body did not have enough funds for the widening project and would ask the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to undertake it. She said widening was necessary because of the number of accidents on the highway.

The number of trees that may have to be cut for the project is not yet known.

A senior forest officer, however, said the project was unnecessary, pointing to other infrastructure projects coming up in the region.

“Even the Ghodbunder road was actually land of the forest department and it was acquired by the state government for constructing a 2 lane road. Later when T Chandrashekhar took over as municipal commissioner of Thane, he widened a big stretch to an eight lane highway and four service lanes. But he could not complete the stretch from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel as the forest department refused to part with the land,” the officer said.

The officer also pointed to the upcoming coastal highway in Thane, the Mumbai-Vadodara Expressway and the tunnel connecting Thane and Borivali, saying these projects would reduce traffic on SH-42.

Environmental activist D Stalin of Vanashakti said the stretch was a major wildlife conflict zone and should not be disturbed further.

“The local tribal hamlets will bear the brunt of leopard attacks. There is no crossing from SGNP to Tungareshwar and we have been fighting for the last 10 years for an underpass,” he said.

Stalin also alleged that resorts and a riverfront project were being allowed inside the park and said he was fighting the case before the NGT.