Tunnel vision: Rs 2,100 crore road project bypasses environmental approval

RTI information revealed that no environmental impact assessment was done for the project

While CIDCO authorities have begun construction of the Kharghar-Turbhe link road project, which involves drilling a tunnel through the Pandavkada hills, RTI has revealed that information regarding the environmental impact assessment is not available with state environment department for the Rs 2,100 crore project.

Navi Mumbai-based NGO NatConnect Foundation sought information from the State Environment and Climate Change department about the EIA study, as the road is being built through the eco-sensitive Pandavkada hills, part of the Kharghar hills. An EIA report is mandatory in such cases. The official response posted on the RTI Maharashtra website stated: "As per available records of MCZMA, the information sought by you is not available with this office."

"This is the standard response they give when they have no answer," said NatConnect Director B N Kumar, who has been filing a series of queries under the RTI Act with both state and Union governments. Kumar commented that the hurried manner in which CIDCO is pushing the road and tunnel project is outrageous. "This once again shows that the city planner has no respect for the environment," he said.

Jyoti Nadkarni, convenor of Kharghar hills and Wetlands forum, said the forest department had once planned to develop the Pandavkada falls area as an eco-tourism site, but with the road project, the plan has apparently been abandoned. A BNHS survey done for developing a nature park in the Belapur-Kharghar hill stretch recorded 239 plant species, 295 insect species, 15 other invertebrates, 12 fishes, 9 amphibians, 28 reptiles, 179 birds and 12 mammal species.

Nadkarni said even golden jackals and a leopard were spotted in the area. "The nature park should be developed at any cost," environmentalists said. "It is sad that CIDCO is hell-bent on destroying the biodiversity under the guise of development," she added.

The road project includes a 1.8-km twin tunnel through Kharghar hill along with a 3.4-km elevated viaduct. The road will start from Turbhe, run alongside the Sion-Panvel highway till Juinagar railway station, then course through two unidirectional tunnels through Kharghar hill before ending at a 30-metre road near the Central Park junction in Kharghar.

"We are not opposed to genuine development that ease traffic congestion and help smooth movement of vehicles," said Kumar and argued that "it is essential to balance it with conservation of biodiversity."

This is not the first time CIDCO has interfered with the hills, he said, citing the destruction of a hillock in the Kharghar golf park area. CIDCO claimed ownership of the hill and proceeded with blasting and digging despite vehement opposition from local Adivasi people who depend on the social forestry in the area. The area has good rainfall, and the water could be collected in ponds and supplied to Kharghar, Kumar said, regretting that CIDCO is ignoring this aspect.

"As it is, we continue to depend on water tanker supply in the absence of assured supply from CIDCO," Nadkarni said, calling for preservation of the hills and implementation of a rainwater harvesting project.