Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to identify an alternate 24 acres of land in Mumbai or nearby areas for compensatory afforestation, following the felling of 1,039 trees for the second phase of the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, reported the PTI.
On November 17, 2025, the apex court had instructed the BMC’s Tree Authority to allow the urgent felling of the trees while directing the civic body to “scrupulously” carry out compensatory afforestation within eight weeks.
As per the PTI, during Thursday’s hearing, the BMC and other authorities told a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi that only three acres of the 27.5 acres identified inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park could be used for afforestation.
BMC seeks extra time to locate 24 acres for afforestation
The civic body requested an extension to identify the remaining 24 acres, potentially near Panvel.
The court directed the BMC commissioner to file an affidavit within two weeks specifying the land and its exact location for the compensatory afforestation. It also asked the civic body to submit a schedule for completing the land identification and afforestation exercise, according to the PTI.
Next hearing scheduled for April 8 to review progress
Further, the bench ordered the BMC to file a second affidavit by March 31 and a third by May 22, detailing progress, along with videos documenting the steps taken. The Chief Justice warned that any official found violating the directions would face heavy penalties, recoverable from the errant officers alone. The matter is scheduled for further consideration on April 8.
For context, the Supreme Court had earlier allowed the felling of 95 trees for the first phase of the GMLR project in Mumbai’s Film City. Permission for the 1,039 trees in the second phase was granted with the condition that compensatory afforestation be carried out meticulously.
Supreme Court flags poor implementation of afforestation in Mumbai
As per PTI, the top court had previously expressed concern over poor implementation of afforestation in Mumbai and warned the Maharashtra government that it could revoke permissions for tree felling in projects like the Mumbai Metro Rail and GMLR if compensatory measures were ignored.
It had directed the state Chief Secretary to hold a meeting with all stakeholders and submit a “concrete proposal” ensuring afforestation is executed properly. The Chief Secretary and BMC later assured the court that compensatory afforestation would be undertaken diligently, including within Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
The GMLR project aims to connect the Western Express Highway with the Eastern Express Highway, potentially reducing travel time between Mulund and Goregaon by almost an hour.
The BMC’s plea comes after the Supreme Court’s January 10 order prohibiting any further tree felling in Aarey Colony without court permission. The earlier order was related to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited’s car shade project.
The apex court had also asked the Maharashtra government to report any proposals to fell more trees in Aarey and noted that some forest-dwelling communities had moved the Bombay High Court in 2023 over tree-felling concerns for the metro rail project.
(With PTI inputs)
