MMRDA granted forest land for Borivali-Thane road under national park

MMRDA receives 35.56 hectares for a twin-tunnel road beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park, cutting travel time between Thane and Borivali to 15 minutes.

MUMBAI: An important step to reduce travel time between Borivali and Thane just got a push. The forest department has granted 35.56 hectares of forest land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for an underground twin-tunnel road connecting Mumbai with Thane. The road will be constructed beneath the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP).

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai. (HT Photo)

The road tunnel will reduce travel time between Thane and Borivali from the current 90 to 120 minutes to around 15 minutes. Once built, the distance between the two areas will reduce from 23km to 12km. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Thane-Borivali twin tunnel was performed by prime minister Narendra Modi on July 13.

The land is spread across both ends of Thane and Borivali where the tunnelling works will happen. This is a vital clearance for the project which also involves the rehabilitation of 500 to 700 families residing in pockets along this route, especially in Borivali. MMRDA authorities have also issued a notice informing the public about the handover of forest land.

Sources in the government said that residents of seven villages at the Thane end and one village at the Borivali end would be resettled. MMRDA is looking at a combination of in-situ rehabilitation and shifting a few families to other locations depending on the availability of transit homes.

In Thane, forest land in parts of Manpada, Majiwada, Borivade, Yeoor and Chene villages and a portion of Magathane in Borivali will be acquired for this multi-crore road project. In the run-up to the assembly elections last month, one of the issues that candidates raised in Magathane constituency was the rehabilitation of families residing inside SNGP.

The tunnel-boring machines (TBMs) for this project are expected to come only next year, as currently the government authorities are focusing on acquisition of both private and forest land and rehabilitation of affected families. According to MMRDA, the total length of the ₹18,800-crore twin tunnel project will be 11.80 km, of which a 1.60 km carriageway will be an approach road. Over ₹15,000 crore of this cost will be secured from financial institutions.

The TBMs will burrow underneath the national park to save the green cover in it. Three tunnels will be dug with three lanes on each side, one on either side being for emergency purposes. In the western suburbs, the tunnel will start from the Borivali end at the Western Express Highway, go underground and emerge at the Eastern Express Highway in Thane.

As per the project details put out by MMRDA, tunnelling works will be carried out in three phases with different packages. Package 1 will involve the construction of a 5.75-km-long tunnel between Borivali and Thane while Package 2 will be the second tunnel from Thane to Borivali covering a span of 6.5 km. In the third phase, the ventilation system and other safety amenities will be installed inside the tunnel.

The project will require 0.7 million litres of water per day, which will be met by recycling sewage water from treatment plants. The project is expected to be complete by mid-2028, and the proposed toll for light motor vehicles is ₹200.