Getting environment clearance from environmental agencies for the proposed Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL) project will not be a Herculean task for the MMRDA, as it won’t have to approach the Union ministry of environment and forests; clearance from state level authorities will suffice.
Incidentally, the current alignment of the sealink had already been given environmental clearance with the project was being handled by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). However, the validity of this clearance has expired.
Currently, MMRDA officials feel the only holdup might be in getting clearance from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). “We have already approached state authorities and applied for clearance to the MCZMA as well,” said Ashwini Bhide, additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.
Ms Bhide said the MCZMA will forward the application to the MoEF for further approval and certification if it wants. This too won’t create much of an issue, she feels.
The MMRDA is being forced to seek the clearance as the clearance certificate that the MSRDC had got in 2005 was only valid for five years. “There is no change in the alignment of the 22 km-long bridge. It is deliberately not straight but zigzags along its route because of environmental reasons,” Rahul Asthana, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said.
Ms Bhide is confident of getting the MCZMA clearance now. “It is possible that we will soon get environmental clearance, as the project is already on
the agenda of the meeting of the MCZMA,” she said.
The other mandatory clearance that will also be needed for the MTHL project is from the ministry of defence, as several vital and sensitive installations will be visible from the MTHL.