Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road tweaked after public uproar at Charkop

An RTI response has revealed that the BMC has tweaked the plan of the approach roads to minimise the number of trees that will be affected, which earlier stood at 336.

MUMBAI: After the public hearing on the Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road in late May evoked an uproar from residents worried about the potential environmental damage it would cause, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made a few tweaks to the Coastal Road’s design. One such change is at Charkop, where one of the road’s interchanges is primed to come up.

Mumbai, India - March 20, 2025: Charkop view that residents worry will be ruined due to the Coastal Road interchange in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

An RTI response has revealed that the BMC has tweaked the plan of the approach roads to minimise the number of trees that will be affected, which earlier stood at 336.

“The BMC has said that the trees along our buildings and the median of the road will not be affected, all of which earlier had a notice for cutting or transplantation pasted on them,” said Mili Shetty, a Charkop resident and activist, who was present at the meeting and received the RTI response. “The Coastal Road bridge will be pillared along the boundary wall of the mangrove, which is on the other side of the road.”

While Shetty and other activists had raised questions on the very utility of the extended Coastal Road, he is now relieved that the harm on the residents would be tempered.

“For now, the BMC has said it will not be constructing a retaining wall across our buildings, which is a huge relief as it would have come too close to the compound walls, affecting the road, trees and our parking spots. The pillars, which will be towards the south near the mangrove boundary wall, will give us plenty of space. The only place where the retaining wall will come near the buildings is at the 120-metre spot near Ruby Towers, as that will be where the bridge will land,” said Shetty. “We residents are not against development. But we are glad it will not trample on our existence.”

Another revelation of the RTI was that a 3-storey parking lot will be built a little ahead at Turzon Point to offer paid parking to the residents.

Although an official confirmed the trees along the residential buildings would not be affected, the residents still worry that the bridge will require the felling of 9,000 mangrove trees.