Civic officials who were in Nagpur on Saturday confirmed that the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) has recommended to the Maharashtra government, civic body's application seeking to conduct geo-technical analysis for Phase III of the project.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is just two steps away from securing the permission to start geo-technical analysis for checking the feasibility of constructing a tunnel under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). The 7km tunnel is a part of the proposed Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project.
The GMLR project is divided in three phases: Phase I involves developing ROB at Nahur station; Phase II involves expansion and widening of the AN Vaidya Marg and Film City Road and Phase III involves constructing a tunnel underneath SGNP.
Civic officials who were in Nagpur on Saturday confirmed that the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) has recommended to the Maharashtra government, civic body's application seeking to conduct geo-technical analysis for Phase III of the project.
"The PCCF has informed us that our application has been sent to the state wildlife board. It will then be sent to the National Wildlife board for final approval," additional municipal commissioner (Projects) Dr Sanjay Mukherjee said. He added that after the report by IIT-Bombay advocating the procedure lined by the civic body, they have high hopes of BMC securing approval from both the state and the national wildlife board.
According to the IIT report, available with dna, the aspect of remote sensing, which was suggested by SGNP offcials, "will not be of any use for tunnel design and impact assessment". With BMC proposing to construct the tunnel at a depth of 30-40 meters below the ground level, IIT has marked geo-technical analysis as the only option to be implemented.
"Remote sensing will only provide imaging between 1 and 3 metres underground, while what is required is soil strata till the quarry-level," a senior PCCF officer said. He added that the department will side with the civic body and place the application in front of the state wildlife board within a week.
"The state wildlife board, headed by the chief minister, is expected to organise a meeting within a week. The CM will clear the application as it is one of the prime mobility infra project in the city, which will reduce traffic time to connect west and east ends of Mumbai," the official said.
In June this year, the BMC had received a major setback regarding the GMLR project. The civic body was denied permission by the state forest department to dig pits to conduct geo-technical testing of the soil strata at SGNP.
The corporation had outlined a plan to drill seven test bores in the 104sqkm area of the park. Citing disturbance to bio-diversity and natural movements of animals, the SGNP forest officials, however, had turned down the request.
They had further suggested the use of remote sensing imagery to understand the geology and location of underground acqufers in SGNP and consult with IIT-Bombay to develop and submit a feasibility report for the tunnel.
The 16km GMLR project, estimated to cost Rs1,300 crore, will start from Oberoi Mall in Goregaon, pass through Film City and end at the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) via Nahur railway station. The project is part of the Mumbai east-west link mega-project, which had been in place since the 1960s. The GMLR envisaged to improve the city's east to west connectivity and cut short the travelling time from Goregaon to Mulund by 15-20 minutes.
Meanwhile, developments were also reported in Phase I and II of the project. According to Mukherjee, after floating tenders for Phase I (Nahur ROB), the BMC has received offers from various companies. The work is expected to start after September. Tenders are ready for Phase II and will be floated soon.
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