Forest Land Diversion For Goregaon-Mulund Link Road Twin Tunnels Beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park In Mumbai Gets Centre's Nod

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has granted final clearance for the diversion of 19.43 hectares of forest land to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for the construction of twin tunnels under the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project.

According to The Free Press Journal report, the approval, issued under Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, allows the BMC to move forward with Phase 3(B) of the GMLR.

This phase includes the construction of a 1.22 km triple-lane box tunnel at Film City and two 4.7 km long tunnels running beneath the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali.

The twin tunnels, which will reach depths of 20 to 160 metres, will be equipped with cross-passages every 300 metres and feature modern infrastructure including ventilation systems, fire safety mechanisms, CCTV surveillance, and dedicated control rooms.

According to a BMC official quoted in the report, the tunnel will run underground, avoiding any impact on surface land or trees.

The official added that all state-recommended environmental safeguards will be implemented.”

He added that a compensatory afforestation plan for 19.5 hectares in Chandrapur is being prepared, in accordance with Forest Conservation Rules, 2023.

The GMLR project, estimated at Rs 14,000 crore, is being executed in four phases.

Of this, Rs 6,548 crore has been earmarked for the twin tunnels, which are targeted for completion by October 2028.

Once completed, the 12.2 km corridor will link the Western Express Highway at Goregaon with the Eastern Express Highway at Mulund, reducing commute times from 75 to just 25 minutes.

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