26 April,2019 05:49 PM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
The proposed sea link will likely be made toll-free. Representation Pic
In what can be called as a major setback for the ambitious Bandra Versova Sea Link(BVSL) project of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation(MSRDC), the Green Activist Zoru Bhathena told mid-day that High Court has accepted the petition and cancelled the permissions given to MSRD for setting up casting yard.
Green Activist Zoru Bhathena said, " The honourable High Court has accepted our petition and verbally the court has said that all permissions given to MSRDC for setting up a casting yard for Bandra Versova sea link have been cancelled. We are waiting for the final court orders to be uploaded."
Bhathena had filed a petition with Bombay High court saying that the area where the casting yard was being set up is a land that falls in Coastal Regulation Zones-I and was also a No Development Zone and any construction will have a negative impact on the coast.
In the petition, Bhathena had said that MSRDC which is going to implement the BVSL project had illegally reclaimed a portion of the beach and were dumping mud which was posing a threat to the mangroves nearby as the reclamation work was restricting the tidal water flow to the mangroves.
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On February 6, 2018, mid-day had done a story (Metro contractor accused of destroying mangroves says it was just grass) in which was stated that how activists have alleged that MMRDA appointed contractor has destroyed mangroves along Juhu Koliwada for a casting yard for the DN Nagar-Mankhurd line.
However, in March 2018, MMRDA took the decision to shift the metro 2B casting yard from Juhu Koliwada to BKC saying that MSRDC wanted the land to carry out the work for its BVSL project.
The Rs 7,000 crore sea link project between Bandra and Versova is expected to relieve the traffic flow. As per the plans, a 17.17-km (including connectors) sea link will be constructed between Bandra and Versova.
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