October 22, 2025: The Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has approved the long-awaited connectivity for Mumbai Metro Lines 4 and 4A to the proposed car depot at Mogharpada. The clearance allows the construction of 20 piers in a creeklet to facilitate an elevated approach road with a spur line linking the metro corridor to the depot — a key infrastructure link for operational efficiency.
Metro Line 4 spans 32.32 km from Wadala to Kasarvadavli in Thane, while Line 4A extends a further 2.7 km to Gaimukh. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the project’s implementing agency, proposed an elevated route connecting the metro alignment to the Mogharpada depot, which passes through a small creek. The MCZMA had earlier directed that no mangroves be affected during the construction of the piers for the approach road and spur line.
In its presentation to the MCZMA, MMRDA clarified that the depot lies outside the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) area. It noted the presence of an existing 40-metre-wide road around 200 metres from the proposed depot. To link the depot, a 25-metre-wide elevated road with a metro spur line is planned, crossing a 20-metre-wide nullah within the CRZ area — requiring 20 supporting piers in the creeklet.
The MCZMA emphasized that the project is essential for connecting the operational metro lines with the Mogharpada depot and recommended it to the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) for final approval.
The authority also cleared the proposed expansion of the Dharamtar Jetty by JSW Dharamtar Port Pvt Ltd, subject to conditions including maintaining a 50-metre buffer from mangroves and preventing debris dumping in CRZ zones.
Source: The Times of India
