The Bombay High Court has provided major relief to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) by vacating an interim stay on felling of trees for the construction of the Versova-Bandra Sea Link. The stay order was lifted after the High Court went through the clarifications and responses offered by the Forest and Environment ministry.
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On the 20th of September, 2019, the High Court had asked the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to elaborate on the two permissions granted for the Versova-Bandra Sea Link.
In the meanwhile, the court had directed the MSRDC to not cut any mangrove trees, except in a 200 sq.m area to build 10 pillars for a portion of the sea link.
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A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Girish S Kulkarni was hearing the matter on Wednesday. The MSRDC told the court that it has made changes to the clarifications and permissions for the felling of 1,585 mangrove trees in the area spanning around 2.99 hectares. The agency also asked the court to vacate the stay so as to begin construction at the earliest.
While lifting the previous stay, the court also allowed the petitioner to challenge the felling of mangrove trees separately. However, the petitioner, Zoru Bhathena, withdrew the petition shortly after the stay was lifted. This has officially paved the way for the MSRDC to begin working on this ambitious sea link project.
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