July 31, 2025: A day after the Supreme Court granted in-principle approval for the felling of 95 trees in Goregaon’s Film City for the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has stressed the urgent need for formal clearance to proceed with excavation at the tunnel launching site.
Civic officials warned that any delay in obtaining permission to remove the trees could result in significant financial repercussions. Nearly 90% of the components for the first Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), imported from Japan for the Rs 6,551-cr project, have already arrived and are being stored along Film City Road—just 1 km from the launching shaft location.
“To begin excavation for the launching shaft—measuring approximately 200 metres long, 50 metres wide and 35 metres deep—we must first clear the ground, which requires the removal of these 95 trees,” said an official from the BMC bridges department.
These trees are part of the larger set of 1,094 scheduled to be felled for the entire GMLR project. The initial phase involves the construction of a 1.3-kilometre-long box tunnel and ramp with a cross-section of 12m x 11.2m, directly adjoining the launching shaft.
The official noted that any delay in securing the required permissions may trigger the ‘No Limit’ clause in the construction contract, which allows for cost escalation in case of setbacks—posing a financial strain on the civic body.
The GMLR project is part of BMC’s broader effort to improve east-west connectivity in the city. Existing link roads such as the Santacruz-Chembur, Andheri-Ghatkopar, and Jogeshwari-Vikhroli corridors have become heavily congested over time, necessitating an additional corridor under the city’s Development Control and Promotion Regulation Plan, 2034.
Source: Times Of India
