Power-hungry Mumbai needs 71 hectares of mangrove land for transmission lines

Under the project, the transmission towers will be installed in Thane and Mumbai over 14.5 km.

The already-shrinking mangrove pockets in Mumbai and Thane may lose green pockets as big as 8 Oval Maidans to make way for giant transmission towers to meet the city's growing appetite for electricity.

The project entails denotification of 71 hectares of mangroves to instal 47 transmission towers over 14.5 kilometres. While the lines will pass through the Thane creek flamingo sanctuary, authorities said they have charted the alignment keeping in mind protected patches of forest, flamingo roosting and feeding sites and accessibility.

Kharghar Vikhroli Transmission Private Limited, which is implementing the project, has approached the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for approval to clear the mangroves.

"The proposed project involves installation of 47 transmission towers and stringing of conductors along Right of Way (ROW) of 46 meters over the length of about 14.5 km and creating approach path to access the tower locations," reads the proposal to the Centre.

Under the project, the high-voltage power lines will pass over the Thane creek near Airoli to Mulund and extend towards Vikhroli over saltpans and mangroves.

Justifying the need for the towers, the proposal says, "The proposed project will bring about 1,000 MW of power into the city thereby providing competitive reliable power supply from outside Mumbai for the benefit of the consumers residing in the area and would further support the utilization of power system network in the city of Mumbai, without adding more generation capacity in Mumbai island or nearby towns."

It says the route was picked from three alignments after studying maps, satellite images and carrying out a detailed field survey.

"Minimum involvement of forest mangrove and wild life sanctuary area/mudflats. Minimum involvement of felling of trees/vegetation in the line route. Minimum no. of River, Railway, Highway, Power crossing etc (sic)," adds the proposal.

Considering the potential damage to ecologically important landscapes, the project also requires clearances from authorities like CRZ, forest and the National Board for Wildlife.