Bombay HC Questions BMC On Survival Of 1.37 Lakh Compensatory Mangroves For Dahisar–Bhayandar Coastal Road Project

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday said it wants to “fix responsibility” on authorities to ensure that compensatory afforestation actually survives while hearing a petition filed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seeking permission to cut over 4,000 mangroves for the extension of the Mumbai Coastal Road, from Dahisar to Bhayandar.

Project Details and Mangrove Impact

The proposed 60-metre-wide Dahisar–Bhayandar coastal road is a crucial link in the larger Mumbai Coastal Road project. Once completed, it will connect Nariman Point to Uttan and further integrate Mumbai with suburban regions such as Vasai and Virar.

BMC Plans Replanting of Mangroves

Senior counsel Aspi Chenoy and advocate Joel Carlos, appearing for the BMC, informed the court that 8.24 hectares of mangrove land and around 4,450 mangroves will be permanently affected by the project.

“Once you connect stilts for the coastal road, in-situ mangroves have to be removed,” Chenoy said. He added that BMC has undertaken to replant three times the number of mangroves, amounting to over 1.37 lakh trees, across 31 hectares of land.

Court Skeptical About Survival of Afforestation

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad, however, expressed skepticism about whether such compensatory afforestation would survive. “We will fix this responsibility on you to ensure that these 1.37 lakh trees are grown. It’s not that you plant and forget it,” the court said.

The judges pointedly asked: “What happens to the replanted saplings? Suppose you plant 1.37 lakh compensatory trees and 30% of them die?” To this, Chenoy responded that he could not comment but assured the court that the BMC would extend full cooperation to the forest department, which oversees afforestation works.

Construction Timeline Raises Concerns

The court pressed further, asking about the gestation period of mangroves and whether the project’s three-to-four-year construction timeline would allow enough time for the new saplings to survive. “The longer the better for mangroves,” the court observed, floating the idea of setting up mechanisms to ensure afforestation is “for real.”

Expressing doubts from judicial experience, the bench remarked: “These [compensatory plantations] do not survive. These conditions are not fulfilled.”

While Chenoy conceded that “all 1.37 lakh may not mature,” he maintained that the BMC would cooperate with the forest department. He agreed to place details of the project on affidavit within one week.

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Next Steps Ordered by HC

The court also directed that replies be filed by authorities including the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). The HC has kept the matter for further hearing on October 8.

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