The Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project will impact a total of 1,567 trees along its planned route. A survey by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) shows that these trees will be affected to make way for 6.5-kilometre underground twin tunnels.
Among these trees, 513 are marked for complete removal, and 581 are designated for transplantation. The final approval from the Tree Authority is still pending.
The majority of the trees marked for removal are located in Aarey Colony, near the Film City Gate, where box tunnels will connect to the main TBM tunnel. For the trees marked for transplantation, the BMC plans to replant them mainly in Aarey. Many of the trees slated for retention are situated along the periphery, near footpaths.
The tunnels will pass beneath the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). It is the third phase of the GMLR project. The goal is to reduce traffic congestion in Mumbai by creating a new link between the eastern suburb of Mulund and the western neighbourhood of Goregaon.
These tunnels will be the widest in the country, with a diameter ranging from 13 to 14.39 meters. The full-scale excavation is planned to begin next year. The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for this purpose will arrive from China in March 2025.
Out of the 1,567 affected trees, it is proposed that 1,100 be either removed or transplanted. Efforts will be made to retain as many of the remaining trees as possible along the alignment.
The BMC has not yet conducted a tree survey on the 7,400-square-meter land plot inside Film City, where the TBM’s launching shaft is set to be constructed. Survey work on the remaining affected trees in this area is expected to proceed in the coming months.
The BMC has assured that replacement efforts will try to plant an equal or greater number of trees in compliance with regulatory guidelines. Approval from the Tree Authority is awaited.
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