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Sea link won’t deplete mangrove cover
The much-delayed Mumbai trans-harbour link has finally got a push, with the MMRDA taking steps to ensure the project will not deplete the state’s mangrove cover.
The much-delayed Mumbai trans-harbour link has finally got a push, with the MMRDA taking steps to ensure the project will not deplete the state’s mangrove cover.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will give the forest department 43 hectares of land in Raigad, in which the department can plant mangroves. The MMRDA will also give the department money to undertake this project.
The MMRDA currently needs 125 hectares of land for the construction of the MTHL. CIDCO has committed to giving 60 hectares of land for the project, while the remainder needs to be provided by the forest department and private players. In order to get land from the forest department, the MMRDA has to provide the department alternate land in the state.
The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority has also specified that the MMRDA would have to replant five times the number of mangroves cut or destroyed during the construction of the MTHL.
The Mumbai trans-harbour link will connect Sewri in the island city to Nhava in Navi Mumbai. The link is 22 km long, with a 16.5-km long bridge across the Mumbai harbour and 5.5 km-long viaduct approaches on the Sewri and Nhava sides. The construction of the MTHL has been plagued by delays.
In May this year, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) gave the go-ahead to the project. The nod from the coastal authority is one of the most vital clearances required and comes after the environment nod obtained from the Centre in 2005. However, later in May, the national green tribunal restrained the MMRDA from beginning construction work on the sea link on the basis of environmental clearance given in March 2005, because such clearance is valid only for five years.
Earlier, in June 2008, Reliance Infrastructure, the agency selected to undertake the project, decided to back out after the state government delayed clearing its proposal.
Work on the bridge is now expected to start in late 2013.
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