The Bombay High Court has allowed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to cut 1,237 mangroves for the proposed Versova-Madh Island bridge, subject to a 39,000-mangrove plantation programme, 10 years of monitoring and a ₹1.42-crore deposit.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna passed the order on September 17, permitting the civic body to proceed with the infrastructure project connecting Versova and Madh Island in Mumbai’s western suburbs.
The bridge is expected to reduce the travel distance between the two locations from 22 km to 1.5 km. The court recorded that the project would improve connectivity between Madh Island and Mumbai’s suburbs and provide relief from delays caused by road congestion.
The BMC approached the court as the project proponent after obtaining clearance for the bridge over Malad Creek. It had initially sought permission to cut 560 mangroves, but raised the number to 1,237 after a reassessment of the project’s requirements.
The court said the project was intended as infrastructure for residents and was not being built for a particular company. It permitted the construction after considering the safeguards, restoration measures and undertakings submitted by the civic corporation.
Under the conditions recorded in the order, the BMC will plant 39,000 mangroves across nine hectares. The plantation will be undertaken at the project site and at other locations in the area, according to the court’s order. The corporation will also be responsible for monitoring the plantation for 10 years.
The BMC has agreed to deposit ₹1.42 crore and submitted an undertaking to comply with the conditions. The Bench said the corporation would face legal consequences if it breached that undertaking.
The order allows the bridge project to move forward while placing restoration and monitoring obligations on the civic body. The court said its intervention, together with safeguards and measures for restoring mangroves, would serve the interests of residents.
The case was entertained on the basis of the commitments made by the BMC and the undertaking submitted before the court. The next implementation steps will therefore include compliance with the mangrove plantation, deposit and long-term monitoring conditions attached to the permission.
