The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has allowed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to reinforce existing infrastructure at Sewri jetty, to assist within the ongoing construction of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link from Sewri to Nhava-Sheva in Navi Mumbai. The matter is now awaiting approval of the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) before the proposed expansion works can start.
As per a proposal submitted by the MMRDA to the regulatory agency , the prevailing ‘kerosene wharf’ at Sewri is proposed to be widened to assist transport the orthotropic steel decks (OSD) which will structure the MTHL bridge sections. the prevailing jetty are going to be extended by 230 metres at its mouth, and a short lived jetty also will be established on piles toward its left, to make space for a self-propelled modular transporter - an outsized , industrial vehicle that's wont to transport objects too heavy for trucks.
The MCZMA had earlier considered the proposal in February this year but decided at the time to hunt a report on the matter from the forest department’s mangrove cell. during a subsequent report (dated March 25), the mangrove cell clarified that the world isn't a reserved forest. As such, the MMRDA doesn't require clearance under the Forest Conservation Act (1980). However, the mangrove cell noted that “the proposed site falls within 50ms of notified mangrove forest” which the “presence of true mangrove trees of white mangrove is observed within the alignment.”
“The project proponent (MMRDA)... assured that mangroves won't be affected thanks to proposed construction activities,” the MCMZA observed during its latest meeting on June 10, the minutes of which are reviewed by Hindustan Times. The MCZMA has recommended the expansion works for CRZ clearance with the imposed condition that the MMRDA hunt down the Bombay high court’s permission before proceeding, with the world .
As per earlier directives of the HC, no construction work can happen on or within 50 metres of mangroves forests without its explicit permission. An engineer with the MMRDA who is involved the project, but declined to be quoted, clarified that the authority will aim to file a writ petition before the HC before subsequent meeting of the SEIAA.
The Sewri jetty is owned by the Mumbai Port Trust and is a component of a bigger 27-hectare land parcel that was handed over to the MMRDA in 2016. About 12 hectares of land are going to be appropriated by the ocean link, while about 15 hectares around Sewri jetty is already being utilised as a casting yard, for the manufacture of concrete structures like bridge sections, beams and girders which will be wont to assemble the MTHL bridge.
