About 100 trees hit by Coastal Road North work to be replanted in Charkop instead of outside Mumbai

About 100 trees affected by the Coastal Road North project in Sector 8, Charkop, Kandivali West, will now be replanted in the same area. The trees had been cut and kept aside to be replanted outside Mumbai.

The move has been made possible by the efforts of local environmental activists, the municipal corporation and MHADA officials. Local residents see it as a major success in keeping the area green despite the project.

The first phase of the initiative will begin at 10.30 am on Wednesday at Datta Guru Udyan. It aims to retain greenery in the area despite infrastructure development and to protect the habitat of birds and other urban wildlife. Replanting the trees locally rather than shifting them out of the city will also help preserve the area's existing green cover.

The Coastal Road North project, also known as the Versova-Bhayandar Link Road, is the second phase of the Mumbai Coastal Road project. For this large project, 103.6554 hectares of forest (mangrove) land will have to be diverted. More than 45,000 mangrove trees will also be affected.

As compensation, a total of 1.37 lakh mangrove trees will be planted on 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, while the BMC Tree Authority approved the felling of about 1,900 trees for the project in June.

The approvals have helped officials speed up the removal of mangroves and trees as well as construction, so that the project can be completed by December 2028.