With the civic body giving a major thrust on the coastal road, one of its showpiece projects, several initiatives of the corporation have received less allocation in the BMC budget. While a few of them are crawling over clearances, the civic body has earmarked Rs 75 crore for the Deonar waste-to-energy plant. Only Rs 200 crore has been set aside for the ambitious desalination projects worth Rs 3,500 crore.

GMLR faces green hurdle

The Goregaon-Mulund link road is the fourth major link, connecting the eastern suburbs and the western suburbs, being implemented in four phases. It spans 12.2 km, including 4.7-km twin tunnels under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and a 1.6-km underpass at Goregaon Film City. Officials said the work on the elevated stretch of GMLR can start while the work on the environmental study report continues. For the project, 660 resident families, 51 commercial structures and about 100 deprived families would need to be rehabilitated. For the project affected people, the BMC has proposed the construction of seven 23-storey buildings near the LBS Marg in Kanjurmarg (West) at Rs 100 crore. In 2022-23, it has set aside Rs 1,300 crore for the project, which is estimated to cost over Rs 10,000 crore.