Virar-Alibag corridor to eat up 424 hectares of forest

Forest cover in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR is once again set to become the victim of infrastructure development Construction of the muchawaited Virar Alibag Multimodal Corridor road MMC will eat into forest cover admeasuring 424 hectares and a proposal in this regard is under consideration with the Ministry of Environment and Forest and Climate Change MoEFampCCOn March 24 the MMRDA submitted two proposals related to the MMC road project between Navghar in Palghar district to Balavali in Raigad district to the MoEFampCC for securing a wildlife clearanceThe proposal has stated that 42468 hectares of forest cover will have to make way for the MMC alignment project It includes patches from the Tunagareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary ESZ of Sanjay Gandhi National Park deemed ESZ of Tungareswar Wildlife sanctuary and the Thane creek flamingos sanctuaryThe MMRDA has proposed phaseI construction from Navghar in north MMR near VasaiVirar to Balavali near NH17 with an aim to provide connectivity between the different areas in MMR so that people can travel to their destinations towards Alibag within a reasonable amount of time also easing trafficThe first proposal has stated that 16788 hectares of mangroves forest patch from the deemed ESZ of Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary will be affected The second proposal has spoken of 25679 hectares of forest area mdash 282 hectares from Tungareswar Wildlife Sanctuary in Vasai and 23676 hectares from deemed Eco Sensitive Zone ESZ of Tungareswar Wildlife sanctuary and 1720 hectares from ESZ of Sanjay Gandhi National Park being affectedBiodiversityrich regionThe Biodiversity Impact Assessment study conducted by an agency appointed by the MMRDA has said that there is movement of wild animals including Leopards Rusty Spotted Cat Sambar birds like Brown Fish Owl Mottled Wood Owl and Butterfly and moths like Blue Mormon the largest butterfly Atlas Moth the largest moth in the regionHowever no disturbance to wildlife movement will be caused with the project it said The increasing traffic volume and frequent jams on the road stretch has been adding to heavy carbon emission that affects negatively to the protected areas The MMC project will help reducing traffic which would work as a breather for the present carbon footprint situation The proposed MMC project has tried minimising the requirement of diversion of forest land stated the Biodiversity Impact Assessment reportEnvironmentalists worryCitybased green activists have been voicing their concerns against the various development projects that are going to eat up the green cover in the MMR They look at shortterm benefits at the cost of rich and important biodiversity some have allegedKedar Gore conservationist and director of The Corbett Foundationsaid Forests are protected under the Constitution of India and are not the governments private property to be hacked and diverted at their will Forest areas are already so fragmented and such projects will further fragment them with a longterm negative impact on fauna We are living in an era where forests and wildlife are neglectedLeast harmful way chosenMMRDA joint project director Dilip Kawatkar said that the MMC project was a crucial one that will help in solving the commuting woes between Virar and Alibag and will also cut down the travel time reducing air pollutionCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates