Mangrove Destruction for Mumbai Road Project Sparks Outcry

Mumbai faces the potential loss of 8.2 acres of mangroves in Bhandup for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project's Phase IV cloverleaf junction. The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) is scheduled to review this proposal on September 24, 2026. The GMLR, a 12.2-km road featuring a 5.3-km twin tunnel under Sanjay Gandhi National Park, aims to connect Film City in Goregaon to Amar Nagar in Mulund West.

The proposed cloverleaf interchange at the GMLR and Eastern Express Highway junction is intended to ensure signal-free traffic, reduce congestion, and improve safety. However, this development comes at the cost of approximately 187 mangroves and 217 trees. Traffic experts anticipate the GMLR will significantly improve east-west connectivity, cutting travel time between the eastern and western suburbs from 90 minutes to just 25 minutes.

Environmental advocates strongly condemn the mangrove destruction. Nandkumar Pawar of the Maharashtra Small Scale Traditional Fish Workers Union highlighted that fishermen were not consulted and stressed the ecological and livelihood importance of these intertidal zones. D Stalin of NGO Vanashakti criticized the continuous destruction of mangroves as "insane" and accused regulatory bodies of becoming rubber stamps, urging high court intervention.

Concerns are also raised about the compensatory afforestation plan, which involves planting trees in Brahmapuri, Chandrapur district, far from Mumbai's coastal wetlands. Critics argue that this terrestrial plantation cannot replace the ecological functions of mangroves and that such mitigation efforts are illogical and unscientific, amounting to deceit.