Thane Ring Metro faces environmental concern as 317 trees fall in eco-sensitive zone

The proposed Rs 12,200 crore Thane Ring Metro project will require 317 trees to be uprooted within the eco-sensitive zone of the Yeoor-Sanjay Gandhi National Park, according to a forest official.

The Metro alignment will pass through the eco-sensitive zones of Majiwada, Chitalsar, Manpada, Waghbil and Gaimukh.

Pradeep Patil, deputy director of Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Thane Division, said the project would also require forest land between Majiwada and Gaimukh. The exact amount of forest land required within the sensitive zone has not yet been determined.

“The National Park will lose 317 trees due to the construction of the Thane Ring Metro Project. Of these 317 trees, 259 are native species. In other parts of the state and country, eco-sensitive zones are generally around 1 km from national parks, but in Mumbai and Thane, the distance is only 100 metres,” Patil said.

The proposed project is intended to decongest Thane, reduce private vehicle use, encourage public transport and provide connectivity to Metro Lines 4 and 5 and Central Railway at Thane station.

However, the project has faced objections from residents, city planners, politicians and non-governmental organisations.

Critics have raised questions over the project’s feasibility, the possibility of worsening traffic congestion, duplication of Metro services and stations, and risks to old building structures.

They have also raised concerns over the cutting or transplantation of more than 3,100 trees and the prolonged construction period in high-footfall areas around Thane railway station.

Radhika Prakash Rane, founder of Thane Against Integral Ring Metro, said project documents indicated that the alignment would affect forest land within Sanjay Gandhi National Park and pass through its notified eco-sensitive zone.

“Mature trees are not merely obstacles to infrastructure. They provide clean air, reduce urban heat, support biodiversity, absorb carbon and protect our ecological balance. Once mature forests are destroyed, planting saplings elsewhere cannot replace the ecosystem lost,” Rane told Hindustan Times.

She also raised concerns over the protection of mangroves and forests while planning infrastructure.

The Thane Ring Metro project remains proposed, with its alignment passing through areas identified as environmentally sensitive.