Centre gives crucial green nod to city’s trans-harbour link
MUMBAI: The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project that will connect the city to the Navi Mumbai airport got two key Central government clearances on Saturday, paving the way for work to begin nearly five decades after it was first envisaged.
The project got Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) clearance and forest clearance, but with certain riders.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) — the nodal agency for the 22-km-long MTHL — however said these riders were just formalities that will be complied with soon.
With the clearances in place, authorities said tenders inviting companies to begin construction will be floated by March. The government wants to finish the project by 2019, the year it goes to polls.
CM Devendra Fadnavis, while making the announcement on Saturday, said both clearances came just before PM Narendra Modi was to take stock of their status through a video conference. “The day the PM was going to take a review of the MTHL project, the much-awaited CRZ clearance was given in the morning and by afternoon, the forest clearance was issued,” Fadnavis said.
There are now two main conditions state authorities need to fulfil. “The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) wants a revised FRA certificate from the district collector. It also wants the state forest department to give it details of where the land for compensatory afforestation is,” said a senior officer not wishing to be named.