Mumbai: Dredging threat to Metro line 5?

Is the upcoming Metro Orange Line 5 ThaneBhiwandiKalyan bridge and another bridge carrying the old water pipeline under threat due to illegal sand dredging at Kasheli creek A picture of the illegal sand dredging has been posted on Twitter by a citizen and environmentalists are demanding action as the unauthorised activity poses a huge threat to the structuresOn August 6 one Balaji K tagging MMRDA and BMC tweeted ldquoIllegal sand dredging in Kasheli creek danger to British era bridge water supply pipe line from Vaitarna passes through this bridge any disaster Mumbai water supply will get affected Danger to Bhiwandi and MMRDA Metro line 5 bridgerdquo SIC The person posted the photo along with the tweet in which two boats and a couple of people allegedly involved in sand mining are seen The picture also shows the old bridge water pipeline bridge and the metro 5 bridge alignment passing parallellyPicture of a sand mining site with residential towers in the background at Kharghar from middayrsquos report on the sand mafia at Taloja creek in 2022 File picThe person has also given examples of how some bridges across the world have collapsed due to illegal sand dredging In the past midday had also highlighted how the illegal sand mining mafia has been using suction pumpsmechanised dredgers in broad daylight at Taloja Creek in Navi MumbailsquoA major threatrsquoEnvironmentalists fear that if the dredging continues it will pose a huge threat to the bridges Nandakumar Pawar of the NGO Sagarshakti said that sand mining activities are real threats to the coastal biodiversity and ecology as a whole ldquoIllegal sand dredging at Kasheli and the Kalher belt poses a great threat to the heritage structure of Kasheli bridge constructed during British era A government notification clearly mentions that any excavation over 3 metres is considered illegal The creek bed has already been dug beyond 10 metres in depthrdquo Pawar saidHe also pointed out that the main threats are obviously from suction pumps and mechanised dredging activities carried out at nights in and around Kasheli creek bridge ldquoThe concerned authorities are not able to trace and track the perpetrators The collector Thane and the revenue department are very aware of ground realities and must work together to control illegal sand dredging activities in this belt Besides illegal sand mining there are a number of unchecked illegal activities such as dumping of construction debris on mangroves near Kasheli creek bridge illegal construction etc carried out in the flood plain of Vasai creek bridge at Kasheli and Kalher in broad daylightrdquo Pawar addedlsquoAuthorities attempts failedrsquoEnvironmentalist Stalin D said ldquoIllegal sand mining has been quite a menace for many years now and repeated attempts to concerned authorities to get it stopped have failed The state government machinery is completely helpless and just sitting and watching as the creek is dredged illegally We are waiting for a big disaster to happen and then some inquiry commission will be set up and those kind of methods are what the government is probably looking forward to Immediate arrests and destroying all the boats which are seen engaging in illegal sand dreading is the need of the hourrdquoMMRDA officials were unavailable for commentMetro network gets boost as govt transfers land to MMRDAThe Mumbai Metro project advanced to the next level on Thursday with the state government transferring land required for the car sheds of two lines to the MMRDA in Thane district Red Lines 7A and 9 which comprise a single stretch and the planned Orange Line 12 While Line 7A extends the existing Red Line 7 from Gundavli to Mumbai Airport Terminal 2 Line 9 extends Line 7 at the other end from Dahisar East to Mira Road The government has handed over advance possession of 5965 hectares of land at Dongri village in Bhayander West for this line For Line 12 which is being planned between Kalyan and Taloja the government has transferred a total of 47 hectares of land at Niljepada in Thane district to the MMRDAldquoThe ongoing construction of seven Metro lines namely Lines 2B 4 4A 5 6 7A and 9 is progressing steadily with completion expected in the near future The MMRDA is committed to providing additional and worldclass transportation options for the citizens of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Currently three Metro lines are operational bringing happiness to millions of Mumbaikars The integration of Metro depots such as the ones being established in Thane district is crucial for the successful implementation and maintenance of these Metro linesrdquo a senior official saidldquoThe advance possession land was granted to MMRDA marking a crucial step in the development of this Metro route These efforts by the state government have ensured the swift transfer of these lands saving both costs and time for the completion of these critical infrastructure projectsrdquo the official addedldquoFurthermore MMRDA is actively working on expanding the Metro network with plans to connect Metro Route 12 KalyanTaloja and Route 5 ThaneBhiwandiKalyan enabling seamless travel between Thane and Navi Mumbai in a matter of minutes The integration of the Navi Mumbai Metro with Metro Route 12 is being studied promising enhanced connectivity for the regionrdquo he addedDr Sanjay Mukherjee metropolitan commissioner MMRDA said ldquoWe are grateful for the cooperation of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar for providing both the lands for the Metro projects At present all the Metro projects are progressing very fast and with the acquisition of these lands the works will be completed soon It is very important for the smooth operation maintenance and repair of trains Along with this with the help of the state government efforts are being made to transfer all the remaining proposed Metro depots We are studying the extension of Metro Route 12 and its integration with Navi Mumbai Metro station has been proposedrdquo Rajendra B Aklekar