Mumbai: Forest dept nod holds up Bhayander-Vasai creek bridge project

Work on the BhayanderVasai creek bridge that the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA plans to construct parallel to the railway bridge might get delayed as the forest departmentrsquos goahead is awaitedThe 498kmlong and 306metrewide bridge will connect Bhayander West and Vasai West reducing the travel time and distance between the areas by 90 minutes and 30 km Vasai talukas population of nearly 794 lakh is expected to benefit from the structureAn MMRDA official said ldquoThe forest department has yet not granted final permission to the MMRDA for the project The Palghar collector has sent a compensatory afforestation proposal to the divisional commissioner Konkan Bhavan for approvalrdquoIn April 2021 there was an important breakthrough with the MMRDA receiving a 986hectare land parcel for the sixlane bridge from the government of India the ministry of commerce and industry and the salt commissionerAlso Read Mumbai Six days since Aarey mishap cops yet to find the vehicleThe BhayanderVasai creek bridge alignment has been planned along the western side of an existing railway track where saltpan land is available and mangrove vegetation is very sparse and it belongs to the governmentThe project alignment commences from Uttan Road near Netaji Subhash Chandra ground at Murdha Gaon passes salt pan land patches of waterlogged area and mangroves at the Bhayender side 216 km and Panju island 077 km Vasai creek 145 km and Naigaon 059 km It terminates at Coutino Road near NaigaonThe mangroves area through which the bridge will pass is considered a protected forest and the MMRDA will have to take permission from the forest department to cut them The proposed bridge involves the diversion of 344 ha of forest landThe objective of the project is to improve the connectivity and transport and communication facilities between Vasai and Bhayander and nearby Panju village which is currently not connected to any place via road The village in Vasai taluka is situated on a natural island in Vasai creek It has a population of around 1400 as per the 2001 censusThe islandrsquos locals have to use ferry services to get to Vasai from where they can access nearby areas which is inconvenient and timeconsuming Hence two ramps of approximately 600 m in length with an approximate width of 85 m straight portion and 12 m curved portion have been proposed to connect Panju island with the bridge directly With the help of these locals will gain direct access to Mumbai as well as Vasai which could boost tourism on the islandThe project is important as it will be the direct connecting point between Mumbai and Vasai as well as Gujarat as the existing NH8 cannot accommodate the current traffic load and often sees severe traffic jamsThere is no road service which directly connects Vasai and Bhayander and both towns are connected via rail only At present Vasai locals have to travel via NH8 to Kashimira and MiraBhayander via Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Road which is a journey of 39 km and it takes around 90 minutes Once completed the bridge will help motorists reach their destination in just 10 minutes against the present travel time of over an hour6No of bridge lanes