205 hectares of forest to make way for multimodal corridor from Naghar to Chirner

The multimodal corridor from Naghar to Chirner will connect to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway. File pic

The multimodal corridor from Naghar to Chirner will require another 205 hectares of forest in Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts. As per the preliminary assessment by MSRDC, around 5,135 trees will be affected due to the project, and hence the development authority has approached the Union environment ministry seeking clearance. According to the proposal submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, a total of 33.278 ha forest area from Palghar, 99.8834 ha forest area from Thane and 72.654 ha from Raigad will have to make way for the project.

It may be noted that Mumbai Metropolitan Region is one of the fastest growing metropolises in India with a population of 19 million. It is ranked as the sixth largest metropolitan region in the world.

According to Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, beyond Greater Mumbai the other regions in MMR such as Thane, Navi-Mumbai, and Mira Bhayandar have also witnessed economic growth. The region's primacy in the economic well being of India cannot be underrated. Maintaining and enhancing the vitality of this metropolis and achieving sustainable growth is pivotal towards realising the larger developmental objectives and quality of goals of India.

Justifying the project, MSRDC said, "The metropolis, like many other major cities in the world, is facing challenges on account of limitations of physical and social infrastructure. Given the growth dynamics and dimensions of transportation problems, and to plan and develop sustainable transportation systems in the region as a part of comprehensive study on transportation for MMR, a multimodal corridor was proposed. A multimodal corridor is a single corridor in which multiple modes, such as buses, BRT, metro rail and cars, along with utilities such as water, sewage and gas lines are present along the same Right of Way. Various alternative alignments were studied for the proposed corridor and an alignment was finalised based on various techno-economic and environmental factors. Thus, a feasible finalised alignment for this project is hereby proposed by MSRDC."

The starting point of this proposed 80-km corridor is at Bapane village in Vasai while the end point is Chirner in Uran. The corridor will also connect to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. It will have eight interchanges, 28 vehicular underpasses, 16 pedestrian underpasses and 120 culverts. Once completed, MSRDC said, it will provide high-speed movement within Palghar, Thane and Raigad and will benefit about 10 growth areas identified for future development, ultimately uplifting the standard of nearly 3.5 million people by 2041.

80km
Length of the corridor