The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has hit a roadblock as its plan of enhancing the railway line capacity between Virar and Dahanu on the western line has been stagnated.
The project was initially approved in February 2022; however, the Bombay High Court is yet to approve the project's clearing of 24.5 hectares of mangroves in the Palghar district.
The Regional Empowered Committee (REC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has given permission to MRVC to start construction on the railway line's sections that are not within protected mangrove patches, although Stage II's final approval is still pending.
The project got a green signal from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority in November 22.
In November 2022, the project received approval from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority.
The 63 km long project, which will be finished by 2025, is a component of Phase III of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project. It involves laying a third and fourth railway line in addition to the already-existing double-line corridor.
Officials from MRVC claim that because the present double-line corridor is overloaded, adding more suburban services to this stretch would be impossible without the improvement.
The project will result in the removal of roughly 25 thousand trees, about 24 thousand of which would be mangroves, therefore the improvement will come at a price to the ecosystem. On 54 hectares of degraded land in three surrounding villages in Palghar itself, compensatory afforestation will be recommended in order to lessen the effects of the loss of such natural resources.
In addition, MRVC will transplant 200 trees from the two to three hectares of land outside the mangrove region within a year after gaining Stage II permission, with no need for court authorization.
The pending permission from the Bombay High Court (HC) is crucial for the completion of this important railway enhancement project. However, it is important to note that the project also has an impact on the environment, and steps are being taken to offset the loss of natural resources.
The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had previously provided suggestions to the ministry of environment. It was recommended to quadruple the Virar Dahanu railway project.
Share
Tweet
