BMC inches towards completion of Gazdar bandh pumping station.

The BMC has come one step closer to the construction of Gazdar bandh pumping station in Khar, with the High Court giving a green signal for moving about 150 mangrove trees that were coming in the way of construction of the pumps. Thus, one of the last hurdles in the way of completion of the project has cleared up for the civic body.

The court order contends that the civic body can carry out the work after consulting the concerned departments for acquisition of NOCs and environmental clearances.

A senior BMC official working on the project informed that the BMC will now apply for clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and the forest department will begin work of shifting the mangroves to a nearby creek area. He informed that the mangroves have developed after 2005, and hence are not scheduled. The civic body now has the permission to restore them elsewhere, which was already permitted by law, subject to certain clearances.

'These mangroves are clustered in bunches of three to ten trees and are not found huddled together in one area. Some trees are situated right where the pumps of the station will be constructed, which throw out water into the sea. Others are getting in the way of a service road that needs to be built 50 meters on either side of the station, for loading and unloading of machinery,' the official said.

This process will hasten the construction of the pumping station by almost six months. The BMC had planned to complete the project by December 2016, but now it ambitiously plans to finish it before this monsoon, official sources said. The pumping station, costing the civic body Rs. 100 crore, has an impact area of 500 hectors around Santacruz, Khar and Bandra.

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