Mumbai, Jan. 30 -- Full-scale construction of the 26.3-km Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road has begun after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) received a crucial working permission from Maharashtra's mangrove cell, marking a major milestone for the long-pending Rs.22,000-crore infrastructure project. The clearance, granted on January 20, followed the Bombay High Court's approval last month, allowing the civic body to proceed despite the project's impact on mangroves. Construction will require the removal of up to 45,673 mangroves from the nearly 60,000 along the alignment. The BMC had started building piers in Dindoshi and Goregaon in August last year, along with preliminary work in areas that don't fall under Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZs). With the mangrove cell's approval now granted, full-scale construction can begin. "We received the last permission on January 20-the working permit from the mangrove cell," said Abhijit Bangar, additional municipal commissioner (projects). "Our project is mostly in the CRZ portion. We had started working in the non-CRZ zone already, but this permission will help us expedite the work." The project will be executed in seven packages, all of which will be taken up simultaneously, said Bangar. The first package covers the Versova-Dahisar stretch, while the final package extends from Dahisar to Bhayandar. Relocating high-tension power lines owned by Adani Power and Tata Power is among the project's most challenging components. "The bridge's alignment is such that the high tension line with Adani Power and Tata Power is infringed," said Bangar. "We need to shift that, and the working permit includes this shifting of lines, which will also include main bridge work." While land acquisition is still underway in some pockets, the BMC said nearly 70% of the alignment passes through government land. Detailing the environmental impact, Bangar said, "There are 45,673 mangroves that will go. Around 9,000 mangroves will be hacked from the bridge pier, and the remaining 36,000 mangroves will be in the shadow area, which means they fall in the alignment of the bridge and are not in the location of the pier." He added that mangroves in the shadow area would be regenerated through in-situ restoration at the same site. "Wherever in-situ plantation isn't possible, we have got land in the Mira-Bhayandar region to plant mangroves," he said. The Bombay High Court granted permission for the project in December after hearing the BMC's plea, as the project involved significant mangrove areas. The civic body informed the court that 45,675 of the 60,000 existing mangroves on the project land may need to be felled. It added that three times that number would be planted as compensatory afforestation, in addition to a statutory plantation of 103 hectares proposed in Chandrapur district. The principal chief conservator of forests (mangrove cell) has marked 84 hectares of land in Palghar around Boisar, Dahanu and Vasai for mangrove compensation, with plans to plant over 130,000 mangroves and maintain them for 10 years. The proposed corridor will run from Versova through Mumbai's western suburbs to Dahisar and terminate at Mira-Bhayandar. Once completed, the road is expected to dramatically cut travel time between Versova and Mira-Bhayandar from nearly two hours to less than 20 minutes. The project's completion deadline is December 2028....