The report, prepared by the Environmental Resources Management India, was recently submitted to the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which is coordinating the Rs5,300 crore project. The MRVC had commissioned the report.
The ongoing phase IIA of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), a World Bank-funded scheme to upgrade the city’s railway network, has received a thumbs-down from the latest environment impact assessment report.
The report, prepared by the Environmental Resources Management India, was recently submitted to the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC), which is coordinating the Rs5,300 crore project. The MRVC had commissioned the report.
The report lists environment damage including: deterioration in ambient air and noise quality, tree cutting, impact on waste water drains and surface water bodies in the vicinity of construction sites, and on-site generation of waste such as municipal solid waste (MSW), hazardous waste, and construction and demolition (C&D) waste.
The report further cautions, “The impact due to deterioration in ambient air and noise quality is likely to be more pronounced at Sandhurst Road, Chinchpokli, Wadala, Chunabhatti, Mahim and Thakurli.”
As work progresses, waste water drains and water channels “are likely to be impacted at Kanjurmarg, Sion, Tilak Nagar, Kurla, Panvel, Bhayander and Virar”. Also, the Patalganga river may be affected as it is in close proximity of a project site at Khopoli, where additional parking space for trains has been proposed.
In terms of damage to ecologically sensitive plant species, the report says, “While mangrove plantation has been observed in close proximity to the project site at Bhayander, tree cutting could be a major concern at Sandhurst Road, Chunabhatti, Thane, Bhayander and Virar.”
Generation of solid waste is envisaged from project sites at CST, Sandhurst Road, Chinchpokli, Thane and Thakurli. Generation of hazardous waste, mainly consisting of weathered asbestos sheets, is envisaged at Thakurli, Sandhurst Road, Chinchpokli, Thane and Khopoli.
However, rejecting fears of environmental damage, MRVC managing director PC Sehgal said that phase I of MUTP had been an ideal example of environmental sensitivity. It had even earned carbon credits for India. He said that there would not be any damage to the environment.
Giving an example, another MRVC official said, “We have set up a ‘mangrove village’ near Thane by planting thousands of saplings to compensate environmental damage in phase I. The railways had cut down about 2,870 mangrove plants while laying lines between Dahisar and Naigaon, but we planted 13,500. About 250-300 mangrove plants were likely to be damaged due to the new Thane-Diva corridor, and so we decided to plant an additional 10,000.”
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