Maharashtra Forest Department

Mulund Goregaon Link Road

Ghodbunder Road

NGO Vanashakti

120-ft-wide road to connect Borivali and Nahur; environmentalists’ objections go unanswered.Despite repeated objections from environmentalists and the, the new Development Plan (DP) for the city retains the proposal for a controversial road connecting the city’s western and eastern suburbs, cutting across the ecologically sensitive Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).The 120-ft-wide eight-lane road, north of, will connect Maharashtra Nagar in Borivali to Nahur. The road was originally proposed in 1991’s DP and cuts the SGNP right in the middle. While 60 per cent of the national park will be on the northern side of this road, 40 per cent will lie south of the park. Thehas already closed traditional tracks of leopards and other wild animals. Environmentalists fear that if this proposed road is constructed, it would further squeeze the area available for free movement of wildlife.“How can the BMC get involved in construction of a road on land that is reserved as a forest; the civic body has no authority over it. What’s worse, this has been done despite objections raised by environment groups and the forest department,” D Stalin, project director of city-basedsaid. “While the DP was being finalised at the state government’s level, neither the forest department nor any NGO approached us to delete this road from the DP,” countered Nitin Kareer, principal secretary urban development department of the state government.The DP went through its official course before being finalised by the state government. Prepared by the BMC, it was opened up for objections from various state and non-government organisations and then passed by a general body before being approved and published by the state government on May 10, 2018. “The opening up of salt pan lands for affordable housing was not part of the DP at the BMC’s stage. If it could be added by the state government at a much later stage, then why can’t the state take the initiative to undo the proposed road,” asked Stalin.“While the BMC was preparing the DP, the forest department had raised 28 objections. We don’t know which of our objections have been accepted after the state government published the final DP,” said Anwar Ahmad, Director, SGNP. When Mirror approached the BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta, he declined to comment.Pankaj Joshi, executive director Urban Design Research Institute, a city-based organisation working towards improving quality of life, feels that the road is important “to improve the city’s east-west connectivity”. He said, “The question, however, is how to cause minimum damage to the environment and migratory routes of animals; can it be constructed underground, or are there any other options available? The planning authority (BMC) should extensively consult all the stake holders before giving the project a go-ahead.”