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The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has approved a 1.5-km, four-lane cable-stayed bridge connecting Manori, Gorai, and Uttan with Marve. Currently, motorists must detour 29 km via Mira Bhayander, taking up to two hours during peak traffic. The project will require removing 45 mangrove trees, with compensatory planting in Palghar mandated at three times the affected area. Local residents and environmentalists have raised concerns about ecological damage and threats to livelihoods in villages like Dharavi Beth and Gorai. The bridge is part of the BMC's plan to construct six major western suburban bridges, aimed at easing traffic on SV Road, Link Road, and the Western Express Highway.
The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has given its approval for the construction of a 1.5-km long, four-lane cable-stayed bridge that will connect the regions of Manori, Gorai, and Uttan with Marve. Currently, ferries operate between Marve and Manori, but there is no direct road access, forcing motorists to take a 29-km detour via Mira Bhayander, resulting in travel times of up to two hours during peak traffic. Advertisement
The proposal for the bridge was approved during a meeting held by the MCZMA earlier this week. The meeting minutes, which were made available this week, mentioned that the construction would require the removal of 45 mangrove trees (Avicennia marina), and a compensatory mangrove plantation would be undertaken in Virathan Budruk village in Palghar.
According to the 2019 coastal regulatory zone notification, the plantation area must be at least three times the size of the affected mangrove area. Furthermore, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is tasked with constructing the bridge, must secure a no-objection certificate from both the high court and the mangrove protection cell before starting the project.
The MCZMA has directed the BMC to collaborate with the mangrove protection cell to implement a mangrove densification plan at the site before the project begins. The BMC is also required to allocate suitable land near the project location and provide the necessary funding to the mangrove cell as part of the environmental management plan (EMP).
Local residents have voiced several concerns about the project, claiming that the bridge would harm the local ecology and threaten the livelihoods of farmers, fisherfolk, and toddy-tappers. Villages of these areas also lack basic civic amenities like hospitals, schools and drinking water supply.
An environmentalist who participated in a meeting between the BMC and local fishermen expressed concerns that the bridge would destroy several gaothans, particularly in Dharavi Beth, an island. The environmentalist added that the construction of the four-lane bridge would disrupt the tranquillity of Dharavi Beth and lead to the demolition of houses in the gaothans of Manori, Kulvem, and Gorai, as the road in the area currently only has one lane.
The BMC has planned six major bridges in the western suburbs to ease pressure on SV Road, Link Road and the Western Express Highway. Currently, commuters travelling to Madh, Marve, or Malwani from Borivali or Andheri take either the Link Road or SV Road up to Evershine Nagar and turn onto the Malad-Marve Road. The bridges will reduce the distance between Oshiwara and Madh by approximately one hour during peak travel time. Last year, the BMC had already received clearance for the construction of a cable-stayed bridge connecting Madh with Versova.
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