After a decade-long delay brought on by several legal obstacles, the long-awaited Yari Road-Lokhandwala bridge project of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is now scheduled to begin. On August 30, the Supreme Court (SC) lifted a restraining order on the project and rejected a special leave petition filed by a number of residents of a housing society on Yari Road.
Starting at Jai Bharat Society on Panch Marg on Yari Road, the bridge will be shaped like a “Y,” continuing to Mhada Road in Four Bungalows on one side and Oberoi Springs in Lokhandwala on the other. On August 30, the SC dismissed a special leave plea (SLP) brought by a few residents of the Jai Bharat Housing Society on Yari Road, nullifying an April 2021 stay order that had halted the project.
The residents’ advocate, Amit Pai, told HT that the project was not approved by the forest department and that the main reason the SLP was filed was to prevent the destruction of the mangroves.
Since some residents of the Jai Bharat Society first brought a PIL before the Bombay High Court in 2019, the project has been delayed by legal battles. In December 2020, the court rejected the PIL and assessed the residents a ₹2 lakh cost. The 2019 PIL stated two arguments: the first was that the steel bridge’s alignment between Yari Road and Lokhandwala was incorrect and that the route should be modified, and the second was that it would cause extensive mangrove loss.
On December 4, 2020, the petition was rejected because there wasn’t enough evidence from the locals to oppose the authorities. Regarding the mangroves, HC has cited an earlier court decision where BMC had received explicit approval for the project.
However, the December 4, 2020 order caused some housing society members to submit an SLP to the SC. In April 2021, the top court subsequently issued a stay on the project. Since then, the project has halted. In September 2021, residents who supported the project and were within the jurisdiction of the New Yari Road Trust submitted an intervention application.
Chief engineer for bridges Satish Thosar stated that although the project has received approval from the forest department, BMC has not yet received a copy of the SC ruling. “The public movement has won a significant battle against civic indifference. After an eight-year wait, our next task is to request that BMC speed up the work, according to Shashi Ranjan, president of the New Yari Road Trust.