Mumbai’s Goregaon-Mulund Link Road proposal may affect more than 400 trees

Mumbai’s Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project faces another environmental approval hurdle, with a proposed second flyover and a cloverleaf interchange potentially affecting more than 400 trees, including 187 mangroves.

The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has recommended the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s proposal for the works under Phase 4 of the GMLR project and forwarded it to the Union environment ministry for approval.

The proposed interchange would include four free-left movements. Parts of the interchange fall within ecologically sensitive coastal regulation zones, including CRZ IA, covering mangroves and mangrove buffer areas, CRZ IB, covering intertidal areas, and CRZ II, reported The Times of India.

Some sections of the proposed flyover and interchange would also pass through areas subject to coastal and environmental restrictions. The project falls within the eco-sensitive zone of the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary, for which the coastal authority has submitted a separate application.

Compensatory afforestation has been proposed in Chandrapur district. More than four hectares of land at Amdi Begde village have been identified for this purpose.

The development represents progress in the regulatory process, but it does not amount to final environmental clearance from the Union government.

The GMLR is intended to improve connectivity between Mumbai’s eastern and western suburbs. The additional flyover and interchange form part of the infrastructure proposed to improve movements around the wider corridor.

The potential impact on mangroves and other trees will remain a key consideration as the proposal moves through the remaining approval process.