HC nod for bridge over Taloja river
Bombay High Court permits CIDCO to build bridge over Taloja river to improve road connectivity, cutting 175 mangroves, in public interest.
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has allowed the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) to construct a bridge over Taloja river to improve road connectivity between the Sion-Panvel Highway and Pendhar and further to Dombivali, Kalyan, Ambarnath and Badlapur areas. Construction of the bridge, which is expected to reduce traffic congestion at Kalamboli junction and Shilphata, would require the cutting of 175 mangroves.
The division bench of justices AS Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain allowed CIDCO’s prayer for permission to construct the bridge, observing that the proposed project was “certainly in public interest”.
The bench took into consideration permissions granted for the project by various authorities such as the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, the Mangrove Cell and the fisheries department. It also considered CIDCO’s assurance of complying with terms and conditions based on which the approvals were granted.
CIDCO was required to approach the high court in view of an earlier ruling prohibiting non-forest activities in mangrove areas and a 50-meter buffer zone around mangroves.
In its petition, the state-run corporation claimed a bridge over Taloja river was necessary to establish road connectivity between Sion-Panvel Highway and Pendhar through the Kharghar node in Navi Mumbai. It would also improve connectivity with residential and industrial belts in Dombivali and Kalyan and Ambernath and Badlapur areas.
The petition further claimed that the bridge would help in reducing traffic congestion at Kalamboli junction near Panvel and Shilphata and effectively save time, energy and money by helping people reach newly developing Diva-Panvel belt and the Taloja industrial area via the shortest possible route.
The court, on April 17, also allowed CIDCO to erect a compound wall around a large plot located partially in the mangrove buffer zone in Airoli, primarily to protect the area from illegal dumping of construction debris and encroachment. The corporation assured the court that no mangroves would be cut while erecting the wall and utmost care would be taken to prevent damage to mangroves.
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