SRA, BMC clear 71 encroachments in Versova for phase 2 of coastal road

MUMBAI: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have cleared 71 hutments encroaching on nearly 1,000 square metres of land near Sanjeev Enclave in Andheri West to pave the way for an elevated road that will be part of the second phase of the Mumbai Coastal Road project, from Versova to Dahisar.

The BMC has acquired the land from the SRA to build an eight-lane elevated road from the Versova interchange to Bangur Nagar in Goregaon West. Additionally, the BMC is working to clear 6,000 sqm of land of encroachments at the Central Institute of Fisheries Education in Versova, while the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) will also acquire 2,121.06 sqm of land in the area. Vishwas Shankarwar, joint municipal commissioner at the BMC, confirmed the development.

“Forty-three encroachments were removed by SRA near the Mhada layout in Versova, near Sanjeev Enclave,” said a civic official. “They have handed over 1,000 sqm of land to the BMC.” The BMC cleared the remaining 28 encroachments.

The BMC is also acquiring 3,112.72 sqm of central government land from the fisheries institute, from which 17 encroached structures will be removed. “The original owner of the fisheries land is Mhada,” said the civic official. “The BMC has already informed Mhada about the situation, as there is a significant bottleneck in the Seven Bungalows area.”

Thirty-one other structures will be removed from 2,997.08 sqm of encroached Mhada land in Versova. The project will also affect 85,000 sqm of marshy mangrove land in the area. “Once all the encroachments are removed by Mhada and the fisheries department, we will start with alignment and piling work. Land acquisition is one part [of the process]. We are awaiting some environmental approvals,” said the civic official.

In December last year, the BMC announced that it had received Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) clearances for a Versova-Dahisar link road and a Dahisar-Bhayander link road, which are part of the coastal road project. A notice from the BMC confirmed that the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) granted the CRZ clearances on November 13.

However, approvals from the Bombay high court and the Maharashtra Maritime Board are still pending, without which construction cannot begin. The ambitious road projects, which involve sections passing under waterways and through mangrove zones, require these clearances. Civil work is expected to begin as soon as all remaining approvals are obtained.

The second phase of the coastal road project, costing ?20,648 crore, is set to be completed by 2029. It will enhance road connectivity between Mumbai’s island city, its suburbs, and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).