39,132 trees to be felled in Maharashtra for Vadodara expressway

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has revealed plans for the Mumbai-Vadodara highway project, triggering concerns about extensive environmental damage. The project aims to connect Vadodara in Gujarat with Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Raigad district, Maharashtra. However, it is estimated to necessitate the felling of over 39,000 trees across Palghar, Thane, and Raigad districts, with 32,000 trees already cut down.

According to the report of Hindustan Times, NHAI's response to an RTI query indicates that a 166.67-km stretch of the highway will pass through Maharashtra, requiring 2,242 hectares of land, including 304 hectares of forest land. Presently, 2,100 hectares have been acquired.

The permissions granted involve cutting 39,132 trees—13,763 in forest areas and 18,961 in non-forest areas—with 32,454 trees already removed. Additionally, the project involves demolishing 3,086 houses, 48 religious structures, and 185 large warehouses.

Environmental activists like D Stalin from NGO Vanshakti criticize the project's impact on forests and wildlife habitats. They argue that the ecological losses are immeasurable and urge for a halt to such projects. “The ecological loss and the value of lost habitats can never be properly quantified,” he said. “Why is it that every forest must have traffic in it, on it or below it? Even if it is an underground project, the work does impact the surface during the construction phase. There is zero concern for the trauma caused to wildlife.”

The completion of this highway aims to reduce container traffic on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad route, easing congestion in Thane and Mumbai-Nashik highways. NHAI plans to finish the Maharashtra stretch by May 2025, including an eight-lane highway and a 3.5-km tunnel under Matheran, enhancing connectivity to JNPA, Maharashtra's largest container port.

NHAI's chief general manager, Anshumali Shrivastava, assures amenities like fuel pumps and eateries every 50 km along the highway. “The entire stretch in Maharashtra will be concretised and it will be an eight-lane highway,” he said. “We will provide wayside amenities like fuel pumps and eateries at a distance of every 50 km.”

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