Katai Junction

heavy rain

pollution levels

forest land

elevated link road

mangrove land

creeks

Village Desai

MMRDA has proposed to build a Rs 331-crore elevated road fromDespite the city coming to a standstill after every bout of, despite alarming, the state seems to be hell-bent on worsening the situation rather than making amends.On Monday, the state forest department diverted nearly two acres ofin Navi Mumbai for the construction of anThe project whose estimated cost is about Rs 331 crores, has been proposed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).According to MMRDA executive engineer Milind Jaitpal, the elevated road will help ease congestion between Navi Mumbai and Kalyan, Dombivali, Badlapur, among other places.To be built between National Highway 4 (NH-4) and Katai Junction (near the toll on Kalyan Shil Road), the road will pass throughandat“In order to have minimum disturbance, this stretch will be elevated. Since the proposed road alignment passes through mangroves, it is necessary for a clearance,’’ the MMRDA had said in its proposal.The proposed road crosses subsidiary rivulets of Ulhas river and will also go over the Mumbai-Mangaon railway line (Konkan Railway) where a rail over-bridge will be built.Even though the MMRDA, in its plea to the forest department, said that “there is negligible felling of trees in mangroves as the link road passes mostly through marshy land and creeks”, the move hasn’t gone down well with environmentalists.D Stalin of NGO Vanashakti said, “The agencies implementing infra projects are not serious about protecting mangroves. Sadly, their importance is completely lost on all planning and development agencies.”