India, Feb. 9 -- The Centre has cleared 4.9 hectares of forest land for the proposed Boisar Goods Siding Yard under Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation's (MRVC) Mumbai Urban Transport Project - Phase III (MUTP III). The project is part of the Virar-Dahanu quadrupling intended to boost the capacity of the Western Railway's suburban trains.

The Forest Advisory Committee of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) granted the approval in January, and the minutes were uploaded recently. The exact number of trees to be felled has not been declared yet. The project will also require an additional 7.7 hectares of non-forest land for Boisar siding.

The state government sent a fresh proposal to the Central Government on Oc...