A project being implemented by CIDCO will need diversion of forest land for the construction of the Neral-Uran Railway Phase I covering Thane and Raigad districts of Maharashtra. Forest land in Thane and Alibaug will need to be cleared to make way for the project. CIDCO has claimed that the project will help connectivity between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. It also claimed that it will give a boost to projects being planned and developed in various nodes of Navi Mumbai.

Green activists have already expressed alarm and distress at the land being cleared for various forest projects saying that every effort should be made for realignment or, to save the environment from deforestation for projects.