3 min readMumbaiMay 30, 2026 08:52 AM IST
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) tree committee on Friday (May 29) cleared a proposal that would allow cutting and transplanting of 1,992 trees to make way for the Mumbai coastal project. The proposal doesn’t include the additional 6,000 mangroves that will be cut for this project. The BMC secured permission to cut the mangroves from the Bombay High Court (HC) and the state forest department last year.
Meanwhile, of the 1992 trees that will be chopped by the tree committee, 726 will be cut, while 1,266 will be transplanted at a land parcel in Powai.
Of the 1992 trees affected, 815 are in Malad, 323 are in Goregaon, 321 will be in Andheri West and Versova region.
Officials said that the proposal for cutting trees for the coastal road project is being tabled on in two phases, and on Friday, the first phase was cleared.
“The proposal is being tabled in a phased manner since we have to maintain the ratio of compensatory plantation as well. For instance, for cutting and transplanting these 1992 trees we will be planting 20,330 trees as compensation in Panvel at the Raigad district. So we sent the proposal to the tree committee only after we had acquired the land parcel for planting these many trees,” an official privy to the project told the Indian Express. Furthermore, the official also stated that the compensatory plantation will be carried out by the state government’s forest development corporation (FDC) who will be responsible for taking care of the saplings and trees for a period of seven years.
“The proposal for cutting the trees in the next phase will be sent to the committee only after we find a land parcel,” the official added.
The proposed second phase of the coastal road will connect Versova with Bhayander in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and has been divided into six different packages. Package A will cover 4.5 km between Versova and Bangur Nagar (Goregaon), package B will cover 1.66 km between Bangur Nagar and Mindspace (Malad). The packages C and D will include twin tunnels – 3.9 km long – connecting mindspace at Malad with Charkop in Kandivali. Package E will be 3.78 km, connecting Charkop with Gorai and the final package F will be 3.69 km will connect Gorai with Dahisar.
Pegged at Rs 25,000 crore, the phase 2 of Mumbai coastal road will be a 25 KM-long high speed corridor comprising underground tunnels, cable-stayed bridges and vehicular interchanges. The alignment of the road has been planned in such a way that it will traverse through mangrove patches, creeks and forest zones. As a result, a significant proportion of green cover is set to be affected.
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