MUMBAI, Sept. 21 -- The green cover that greets motorists on the Mankhurd stretch while travelling towards Navi Mumbai could soon give way to the flyover project, with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) seeking to divert 1.6202 hectares of forest land with mangroves for the construction of two key flyovers. Two years after floating a tender for the flyovers over the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road and the Navi Mumbai-bound Sion-Panvel Highway, the civic body has initiated the process of diverting the forest land, including areas falling within the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary and its notified Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ). The MCGM has sought approval from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to divert the land to facilitate the shifting of existing electricity transmission lines that currently cross the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road near the junction. The civic body plans to construct two flyovers adjacent to the existing Mankhurd flyover. The first will be built on the western side of the existing bridge and will carry traffic from the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road towards the Sion-Panvel Highway and Navi Mumbai. The second, planned on the eastern side, will allow vehicles travelling from Navi Mumbai to bypass the traffic signal at the junction and connect to the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road. "There are 3 existing high tension cable lines across Ghatkopar Mankhurd Link Road near T junction in one of the flyovers (towards Navi Mumbai)...these are required to be relocated suitably and the required elevation to be increased for the execution of infringing piers," reads a note from the civic body, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times. The note states that the footprint of the existing transmission lines as well as the corridor proposed for partially shifting the electric pylons falls within "1.1088 hectares, having a length of 889.103 metres and notified Eco Sensitive Zone of 0.4732 hectares, having a length of 526.458 metres". Last month, the MCGM submitted an application to the MoEFCC seeking approval to divert forest land inside the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary's core boundary as well as its notified ESZ boundary. According to the proposal, a total of 1.6202 hectares of forest land with mangroves needs to be diverted for shifting the transmission lines. The civic body has not disclosed the total number of mangroves that will be impacted. Another 1.0657 hectares of land required for the work falls on non-forest land....