India, June 28 -- For residents of Uttan, who only months ago celebrated forcing the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to abandon plans for a Metro Rail car depot in their village, another battle over their land has already begun. This time, the development authority has identified more than 100 hectares in Uttan for the ambitious Mumbai-Vadhavan Expressway Corridor (Uttan-Virar Sea Link), with nearly a fifth of it proposed to be acquired for the project's entry and exit connectors.

The process formally began on Wednesday after MMRDA issued a public notice identifying 104.285 hectares in Uttan village that would be partly or wholly required for the project. Of this, nearly 20.2 hectares have been earmarked for acqu...