Mumbai, May 14 -- A key road project passing through the eco-sensitive zone of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) has hit a hurdle four years after it was officially sanctioned, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is still awaiting wildlife clearances for a section of the 700-metre stretch between Kandivali's Lokhandwala Complex and Malad reservoir. On Tuesday, the BMC standing committee refused to clear a proposal to pay Rs.3.63 crore to SGNP authorities for project permissions, saying the civic body had failed to provide adequate details on how 1,567 slum dwellers affected by the project would be rehabilitated. The proposed road stretch forms part of the planned 120-ft-wide Magathane-Goregaon road that will connect with the upcoming Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) near Ratnagiri Hotel junction. Officials said the BMC has currently sought approval only for a 60-ft-wide road along the 700-metre forest stretch within the forest land, which will later be widened to 120 ft. This road is also meant to be an alternative option to the Western Express Highway. "One of the contract conditions for clearances is the mandatory provision to give 2% of the overall project cost to the SGNP. While the overall project cost is Rs.238 crores, the cost of this specific part of the project within the SGNP is Rs.180.4 crores, 2% of which works out to Rs.3.63 crores, for which we had approached the standing committee," a road department official informed. The Rs.238-crore contract was awarded in 2022 to a joint venture of M/s T & T Vishal during the BMC administrator regime. Since then, the civic body has carried out drone surveys and a total station survey of the 1567 slums spread across 2.74 ha of the forest land. Officials said the rehabilitation of the affected slum dwellers would be handled by the P-North ward office. The BMC has also applied for a no-objection certificate from the forest department in 2023 and plans compensatory afforestation in Chandrapur. Congress leader Ashraf Azmi claimed that if this road is built without clearances, it might endanger both the animals and the human beings. He also alleged that contracts worth over Rs.30,000 crores were awarded by the civic body during the administrator regime at substantially higher costs than the estimated tender values. Zameer Querishi from Mankhurd questioned the 3.5-year delay in the project and demanded accountability as well as a break-up of the approved Rs.238-crore project cost. Standing committee chairperson Prabhakar Shinde rejected the proposal and directed the BMC to submit replies to the queries raised by the members....