About 100 trees hit by Charkop coastal road work to be replanted in the same area

About 100 trees have been affected by the Coastal Road North project in Sector 8, Charkop, Kandivali West. They had been marked for cutting and replanting outside Mumbai, but will now be replanted in the same area.

The move has been made possible by the efforts of local environmental activists and officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and MHADA. Local residents see it as a major success in keeping greenery intact in areas affected by the project.

The first phase of the work will begin at 10.30 am on Wednesday at Datta Guru Udyan. The initiative aims to retain the area's green cover despite infrastructure development and to protect the habitats of birds and the city's other wildlife.

Replanting the trees locally rather than sending them out of the city will also help preserve the existing greenery here.

The Coastal Road North project is also known as the Versova-Bhayander Link Road. It is the second phase of the Mumbai Coastal Road project, the next part of that larger project.

The project will require the diversion of 103.6554 hectares of forest (mangrove) land. It will also affect more than 45,000 mangrove trees.

As compensation, 1.37 lakh mangrove trees will be planted on a total of 255 hectares outside Mumbai.

The BMC received final clearance for the second phase from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) in July. The BMC's tree authority had in June permitted the felling of about 1,900 trees for the project.

Following these approvals, officials can speed up construction along with mangrove and tree removal, so that the project can be completed by December 2028.