A total of 166 trees in the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) limits are in the path of the planned fifth and sixth railway lines between Borivali and Virar.
As per the instructions of the MBMC, 136 of them will be felled and 30 trees will be planted in the nearby areas.
Currently, the felling of 2,612 mangroves has started. As this land between Dahisar and Mira Road has been cleared, the process of planting trees is also being completed at the same time.
In a notice issued by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation on Friday, November 14, the municipality said that it intends to approve the Western Railway project.
It has also appealed to the residents to register any objections within seven days. The notification mentioned the stretch between Bhayander station and Panju Island under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase IIA of the Western Railway (WR).
The trees to be felled for the project include coconut, peepal, almond, eucalypt, ashoka, okra, gulmohar, date palm, mango, etc. Some of the trees marked for replanting are more than 40 years old.
In September last year, the Bombay High Court (HC) had allowed the removal of 2,612 mangroves for the public transport project.
The court had directed the Western Railway to submit an undertaking to complete the planting and maintenance of 7,823 compensatory trees near the mangroves.
The Western Railway is constructing two lines between Borivali and Virar at a cost of approximately Rs 2,184 crore. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) had approved the project.
But Western Railway had said that 20 conditions will have to be followed to reduce environmental degradation. These 26 km long lines are expected to increase the number of local trains on Western Railway.
Mumbai Rail Vikas Mahamandal is implementing this project. Western Railway also aims to complete it by December 2027.
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