The Rs150-crore Dahisar river revival project, which chief minister Devendra Fadnavis asked the BMC to take up on priority basis during a high-level meeting on Monday, could end up giving Mumbai its first mangrove park and marine interpretation centre in the North Mumbai suburb.

According to the proposal submitted and a detailed presentation made to the CM during the meeting, Dahisar MLA Manisha Chaudhari said that once the Dahisar river is revived from its present polluted condition, the entire Gorai creek in Dahisar West, where the river ends, can become one of the biggest tourist attractions, simply by converting it into a mangrove park, as the location is blessed with one of the most dense stretches of mangroves.

"The entire mangrove belt located behind the Dahisar Link Road is under threat from encroachments and regular dumping and cutting, and the only way to save it is by creating a mangrove park. We have the entire plan of setting up a marine interpretation centre, including mangrove afforestation behind Ganpat Patil Nagar slums, ready and even the CM has given us a verbal go-ahead," said Chaudhari, adding that in one month all reports pertaining to the land records and other feasibility aspects have to be submitted to the CM by the departments concerned.

As per the plans, the mangrove park will allow tourists to enjoy mangrove trails by walking on wooden boardwalks, and with the mangroves being home to several migrant and resident birds, tourists and nature enthusiasts will also be able to go up the special towers built for bird-watching. "Apart from all this, the biggest attraction planned will be the backwater boating inside the mangroves; there will be provisions made to pick up tourists in small boats to give them a tour of the creek area and drop them back at the marine interpretation centre. There will also be crab farming activity conducted to create livelihood," explained Chaudhari.

She added that the entire project has been prepared with the help of Terracon, a firm which works in the field of providing sustainable solutions. The company's officials too said rejuvenation of Dahisar river is key to this project.

Chaudhari said both the river revival and the mangrove park project are her biggest priorities and she even plans to write to the MTDC, the BMC and the state government for funding. "The mangrove park project has received positive feedback from all officials present in the meeting. And now with the CM backing the project, Dahisar, apart from having Sanjay Gandhi National Park on the eastern side, will soon get a mangrove park on the western side," she said, adding that the entire project can be completed in three years.

But even as the above news looks positive and encouraging, it's possible that the entire picture isn't rosy.

Harish Pandey, president of New Link Road Resident Forum that has been playing a major role in saving these mangroves, said, "In spite of working to save these mangroves, where the mangrove park has been proposed, we have not been informed about it. Also, we would like to urge the MLA to look into the wide-scale mangrove destruction happening in her constituency, for which we are the ones who have been fighting with no support from officials."

What is the projectThe 12km Dahisar river finds its origin in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park — the only portion which is clean at the moment. As soon as the river leaves the park, the stretch from under the Dahisar bridge moving through Daulat Nagar and parts of Borivli, Dahisar and finally entering Gorai creek are completely polluted due to several activities.

The Dahisar river revival project has been taken under the proposed Brimstowad project and there will be deepening, widening as well as de-silting carried out. Retaining walls will also be built, along with four public crossing bridges and a sewerage treatment plant.