Permission sought from environment ministry to clear mangrove areas to build Juhu, Versova connector extensions
A satellite image of the Versova Bandra Sea Link under construction. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Ltd (MSRDC) has applied to clear a forested area essential to the proposed extension of the Juhu and Versova connectors towards the Western Express Highway (WEH) — an important development related to the Versova Bandra Sea Link (VBSL) project.
Sources from MSRDC told mid-day that the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) has been approached for getting the forest clearance for construction of the connectors. Close to 3 hectares of mangrove forest land will have to be diverted for the project, which includes the construction of connectors in Juhu and Versova.
“In the mangrove area, road shall only be constructed on stilts. There would be a loss of about 1585 mangrove trees in 1500 square metres of mangrove land affected during construction at the Carter Road connector, the Juhu Koliwada connector and the Versora connector. As committed by the project proponent (MSRDC), 10 times the number of mangroves destroyed/cut i.e. 15,850 mangrove trees shall be regenerated/replantation at an appropriate location, in consultation with the Mangrove Cell of the Department of Forests, Government of Maharashtra,” states one of the letters related to the project.
It may be noted that the VBSL project cost has increased from Rs 11,332 crore (sanctioned in 2018 ) to Rs 18,120 crore — an increase of Rs 6788 crore. The increase in cost is attributed to the shifting of the casting yard from Juhu to Malad, beautification, and lighting purposes.
Once completed, VBSL will help reduce travel distance and time. The project is expected to reduce the 45-60 minute travel time between Bandra and Versova. According to MSRDC officials, the project will also have indirect benefits like a reduction in the maintenance cost of vehicles, apart from environmental benefits, an increase in land appreciation, increased job opportunities, and mental peace to the driver due to the ease of traffic flow.
The VBSL will have a 2.25 km (2+2 lane)-long connector at Bandra, 2.57 km ( 3+3 lane)-long connector at Carter Road, 4.5 km (2+2 lane)-long connector at Juhu and a 4.29 km-long connector at Versova with one cable-stayed bridge. Once complete, VBSL will help decongest the arterial link road, SV Road and WEH between Andheri and Bandra.
At present, motorists travelling from the Bandra Reclamation end of the Bandra Worli Sea Link to Versova have to travel 12.4 km, and during morning and evening peak hours, it takes 45-60 minutes to cover this distance. VBSL will act as a crucial connector bringing down the travel time to less than 15 minutes between Bandra and Versova.
The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had recently given approval to certain permissions for the project. According to the minutes of the last MCZMA meeting which was held in December 2024, MSRDC proposed few amendments which included bifurcation and extension of the Versova connector with one cable-stayed bridge for better traffic disbursal (to minimise impact on mangroves and reduce traffic congestion at earlier proposed connector end), relocating two navigational spans on the main alignment and adding two new navigational spans of 12O metres to the Juhu connector, and extension of the Juhu connector towards the WEH for better traffic disbursal.
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