Centre clears forest land transfer for new railway goods yard in Boisar
Environment ministry approves transfer of 4.985 hectares of forest land for a new goods yard at Boisar's Katkar Pada area.
Work on the proposed new railway goods yard at Boisar is set to gain pace. The yard is considered crucial given rising freight traffic from Tarapur Industrial Estate and the quadrupling of the Virar-Dahanu railway line. The central government's Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has given final approval for the transfer of 4.985 hectares of forest land required for the railway yard in the Boisar-Katkar Pada area.
The forest land will now be transferred in the name of the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation. With the forest land issue resolved, a major hurdle in the project's way has been cleared. Construction of the new yard is already under way, and besides the forest land, about 7.7 hectares of non-forest and private land will also be used for the project.
The yard is being described as essential for handling the heavy freight traffic generated by steel, chemical, textile and other industries at Tarapur MIDC. Currently, the goods yard at Boisar West is obstructing work on the third and fourth railway lines on the Virar-Dahanu route, so it is planned to shift it to the new site at Katkar Pada. Once the existing goods yard is removed, laying two additional tracks on the Virar-Dahanu line will also become easier. This is expected to increase the capacity of local and freight train services going forward.
Once the new yard becomes operational, heavy freight traffic coming from Tarapur MIDC will be diverted directly to the yard along a fixed route. This could help reduce the pressure of heavy vehicles on Birsa Munda Chowk and the Boisar-Palghar Road. The new yard, to be built in the Chitralaya area, is also expected to bring some relief to the city's traffic situation.
Given Tarapur MIDC as well as the proposed Vadhavan Port, building a modern, high-capacity goods yard at Boisar is considered necessary. An increase in industrial freight movement by rail could also reduce the burden of heavy vehicles on roads. In exchange for the forest land transfer, compensatory afforestation will be carried out over about 10 hectares in Palghar district, as part of the environmental compensation process for using forest land for the project.
