Mumbai: 24ha of forest land to be razed for Nerul-Uran rail project

CIDCO needs forest land in Thane and Raigad districts for the three-km stretch of the line. File pic

There's some bad news for environment and nature lovers. A project being implemented by CIDCO will require diversion of 23.7687 ha of forest land for construction of the Nerul-Uran Railway Phase I, covering the Thane and Raigad districts of Maharashtra. CIDCO, the agency implementing the project, has submitted a proposal for the same to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

As per the proposal, 7.94 ha forest land in Thane and 15.83 ha in Alibaug will need to be cleared to make way for the project. The villages that come under this area include Shahabaj, Karave, Targhar, Panvel creek, Ulwe, Bahal, Kharkhopar and Gahan.

CIDCO has said that the project would help improve connectivity between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. It also claimed that it would give a boost to projects being planned and developed in various nodes of Navi Mumbai. "[It will] Accelerate the growth of southern Navi Mumbai. [The] Proposed Targhar station would be suburban railway connectivity to the proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport. The project will help provide access to JNPT through [the] proposed Nhava Sheva station," the CIDCO stated in its proposal to MOEF&CC.

Environmentalists have been appealing to authorities that the various projects coming up in Mumbai, Thane and MMR region be planned in such a way that it does not require destruction of forest land.

15.83
Total forest land (in hectares) that will have to be cleared in Alibaug