GMLR twin tunnel: Centre grants final nod for diversion of SGNP forest land to BMC

Indian Express

5 days ago

Over a year since procuring the in-principle (Stage I) approval, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) on Tuesday granted the final approval for diversion of 19.43 hectares of forest land at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The clearance has now paved the way for the construction of the twin tunnels, which is being developed within the ambit of the ambitious Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project.
Pegged at a cost of nearly Rs 6500, the GMRL is an ambitious project which aims to alleviate congestion by linking Goregaon in the western suburbs to Mulund in the eastern suburbs. A crucial part of the GMLR project are the 6.65-km long twin tunnels which will start from the Film City in the western suburbs and open near Mulund's Amar Junction, which currently houses a huge slum pocket.
The GMLR tunnels will surpass beneath the SGNP, covering a complex topography of hillocks, forest and farmlands.
With the project slated to be constructed through the protected forest lands of SGNP, the state government had sought the Union ministry's approval.
Earlier on January 2, 2024, the MOEFCC granted the in-principle clearances for the proposal after examination.
On Tuesday, the Union ministry granted the final approval for the diversion of 19.43 hectares of reserves forest area to the BMC under the section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980.
Stage I (in-principle) approval from the central government is the first step towards diverting forest land for non-forest purposes, followed by Stage II clearances.
Officials maintained that even as the land parcel has been transferred to the civic body, it continues to hold the legal status of forest land. With the tunnel raking under the SGNP — at a depth of 20 to 160 metres — no trees are expected to be impacted during the course of the project construction.
Meanwhile, the civic body has prepared an alternative afforestation plan as per the Forest Act. For the total forest land acquired, over 19.5 hectares of non-forest area in Chandrapur district will undergo plantation and maintenance.
Being tucked in an ecologically sensitive zone, the GMLR project has also undergone a slew of studies ranging including Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), environmental, biological studies by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) etc. as well as engineering, geotechnical studies. Since the tunnel is aligned between the Tulsi and Vehar lakes, the project has also undergone hydrological studies.
Upon completion, the GMLR project is projected to be estimated to reduce the travel time between the eastern and western suburbs from 75 minutes to 25 minutes. The project is estimated to be completed by October 2028.