A survey by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project has revealed that 1,567 trees along the proposed alignment will be impacted to facilitate the construction of the GMLR’s 6.5-km underground twin tunnels, The Indian Express reported.
With the final approval from the Tree Authority (TA) pending, 513 trees are in the proposal to be cut in entirety while 581 are earmarked for transplantation.
The 6.5-km-long underground twin tunnels, which will pass beneath the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), are scheduled for construction in the third phase of the project. This initiative aims to reduce traffic congestion along the city’s existing east-west corridors.
This project will be linking Goregaon to Mulund.
The tunnels will have a diameter ranging from 13 to 14.39 meters, making them the widest tunnel boring machine (TBM) tunnels in the country. The TBM, expected to arrive from China in March 2025, will enable full-scale work on the underground tunnels to begin next year. Of the 1,567 trees impacted by the project, 1,100 are planned for removal or transplantation.
Of the trees affected, 513 will be cut down, and 581 are scheduled for transplantation. The civic body will also work to preserve the remaining trees identified along the project alignment.
BMC officials indicated that most of the trees marked for removal are located near the Film City Gate in Aarey Colony, where box tunnels leading into the TBM tunnel are planned to be constructed. Most of the trees earmarked for transplantation will be replanted within Aarey itself.