Mumbai The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation has sought permission from the state forest department to divert 12.7 hectares of mangrove forests across Mumbai (Suburban), Thane and Dahanu districts to make way for the fifth and sixth railway lines between Borivali to Virar on the western suburban railway, being executed under Phase III-A of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) at a cost of ₹2,184 crore.
The 26km long, broad-gauge railway line is expected to help decongest trains, increase the frequency of trains beyond the western suburbs and reduce the number of accidents, officials said. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the prime minister, had approved Phase-IIIA of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project in April 2020 to improve the connectivity of mass rapid transport between Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts.
“There are right now five lines between Mumbai Central and Borivali and the sixth line is under construction. From Borivali to Virar there are only four lines, so the bottleneck effect at Borivali will worsen if the network is not expanded further.
