The Bombay High Court has allowed the removal of 1,237 mangrove trees across 2.7515 hectares for a proposed cable-stayed bridge linking Madh and Versova across Malad Creek, while warning the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that any breach of its environmental commitments could lead to both civil and criminal consequences.
The permission was granted by a bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Adwait Sethna after the BMC submitted safeguards for mangrove plantation and long-term monitoring. The court considered the civic body’s assurance that it would undertake compensatory plantation and oversee the restoration of the mangroves for 10 years.
The BMC had initially sought permission to remove 560 mangrove trees. A subsequent reassessment increased the number of affected trees to 1,237 within the 2.7515-hectare area. The civic body has deposited more than Rs 1.42 crore for plantation and restoration-related measures, according to the report.
The proposed elevated bridge will be 2,064 metres long. The BMC told the court that the project would serve as an important link in Mumbai’s road network. The crossing is planned to connect Madh in the western suburbs with Versova, across the Malad Creek, and is intended to add a new road connection between the two areas.
As part of its environmental commitments, the municipal corporation has promised to plant 39,000 mangrove trees across nine hectares of degraded mangrove forest. The court directed the BMC to ensure that most of the compensatory plantation takes place at the affected site itself.
The order places the project under continuing environmental obligations rather than treating the tree-removal permission as an unrestricted clearance. The BMC will be responsible for carrying out the plantation measures and monitoring their revival for a decade, as promised before the court.
The court also made clear that failure to honour these commitments could expose the municipal corporation to civil and criminal legal action. This makes the implementation of the plantation and restoration plan a formal compliance responsibility connected to the bridge project.
The immediate next steps are the removal of the permitted mangroves, implementation of the compensatory plantation programme and continued monitoring of the restoration measures under the conditions placed on the BMC.
