Overview

• The Union environment ministry issued Stage II approval under Section 2 of the Forest (Conservation) Act for diversion of 19.43 hectares of SGNP forest land to the BMC
• Each tunnel will span 4.7 km in length and 45.7 m in width at depths ranging from 20 to 160 m with cross-passages every 300 m
• Legal safeguards ensure the forest retains its status and no surface trees will be impacted as the tunnels run entirely underground
• As a mitigation condition, BMC must carry out 19.5 hectares of compensatory afforestation in Chandrapur district covering Vasanvihira and Gondamohadi villages
• The ₹6,548 crore tunneling phase is part of the ₹14,000 crore, four-phase GMLR project that aims to cut Goregaon–Mulund travel from 75 to 25 minutes by October 2028