MUMBAI: Citing the need for better connectivity between the Navi Mumbai and Mumbai airports, the state government on February 24 sanctioned the Metro 8 line connecting the two. The project will also have a car shed close to the interstate bus terminal. However, environmentalists and activists have raised a red flag, given the proposed site of the shed: on 27.2 hectares of reserved forest (mangrove) land at Mandale.
The government resolution issued by the urban development department states that approval has been granted for the transfer of this land. CIDCO officials said the plot was next to Metro 2B’s Mandale car depot.
Earlier environmentally unfriendly decisions for metro car sheds have been staunchly opposed by activists and people alike. The decision to build the Metro 3 car shed on Aarey forest land was a major flashpoint while the plan to have a car depot at Bhayandar too had to be shelved, as it would have entailed the chopping of hundreds of trees. The Metro 8 Mandale proposal too has upset environmental activists.
When asked why this land was chosen, CIDCO sources said that since the land near the airport was needed for commercialisation, the government felt that having a car shed at Mandale in Mumbai was an easier option. When contacted, CIDCO MD Vijay Singhal said the whole process had been approved by the cabinet and they would also take permission from the various authorities before starting work.
The Navi Mumbai airport was inaugurated by Narendra Modi in December last year and became operational on December 25, 2025. However, given the lack of connectivity between it and Mumbai’s international airport, the government approved Metro 8 for the purpose. The Comprehensive Transport Study (2021) had also highlighted the need for a metro connection via Thane Creek, given the rapid development of Navi Mumbai and the increasing number of passengers between the two cities, leading to potentially inadequate public transport systems in the future.
Irate activists pointed out the grave folly of this kind of decision. “Mandale is an area where the forest department does mangrove plantation and compensatory afforestation,” said D Stalin of Vanashakti. “Why can’t the metro depot be relocated on slum land, where slum dwellers will also get proper housing and government land can be put to good use?”
Environmentalist Nandkumar Pawar added, “We have already suffered damage due to the removal of mangroves. The government must look for alternate sites. Under no circumstances should mangroves or trees be chopped. The oxygen they provide to us is priceless.”
Stalin said that forest and mangrove land was being recklessly destroyed for infrastructure. “Earlier, it was the Malad creek for the coastal road and sewage treatment plant, Thane creek for the Kanjurmarg dumping ground and now Mandale for the metro,” he said. “If forest land was going to be handed on a platter for every project, Mumbai is scheduled to lose all its mangrove forests in the next five years.”