Bombay High Court Clears Rs 488 Crore Kalwa-Kalyan Power Line Upgrade

The Bombay High Court has granted permission to Tata Power Company Ltd to upgrade its 75-year-old Kalwa-Kalyan transmission line from 110 KV to 220 KV, ensuring the project will proceed without cutting or damaging mangroves across the Thane and Greater Mumbai regions.

A division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad ruled that replacing the existing transmission infrastructure was an essential component of the capacity upgrade. The court allowed the replacement of 87 transmission towers with multi-circuit 220 KV towers, including two structures situated within 50 metres of the mangrove buffer zone.

The project, estimated at an investment of Rs 488 crore, aims to address the growing power demand in Thane district and Greater Mumbai. Tata Power informed the bench that the new towers will be erected within the footprints already occupied by the existing structures, ensuring zero mangrove felling in the 0.727-hectare Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit.

The transmission upgrade requires the diversion of 4.5773 hectares of forest land. According to court submissions, Tata Power has obtained statutory clearances from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), coastal regulation authorities, and the forest department. A total of 82 non-mangrove trees are scheduled to be felled over 3.8503 hectares within the Thane Forest Division.

Tata Power submitted compliance records showing payments of Rs 2.04 crore to the Forest Department for net present value and compensatory afforestation. In addition, the company deposited Rs 82.70 lakh for compensatory afforestation across 9.20 hectares of degraded forest land in Murbad taluka of Thane district, where 10,221 saplings will be planted.

While clearing the petition, the High Court established strict environmental monitoring protocols. The bench directed Tata Power to submit status and audit reports covering plantation, maintenance, and afforestation twice a year for the next 10 years.

These compliance reports, supported by affidavits from Tata Power's managing director and the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, must be submitted by January 12 and July 12 each year. The court warned that failure to submit the required periodic filings would result in contempt proceedings.