The proposed Eastern Freeway, once completed in two years’ time, will be a high-speed corridor, but will come at a price: a total of 1011 trees on the 22-km stretch from Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum to the Anik junction will be removed to enable widening of the road.

The MMRDA, which is implementing the ambitious project, has submitted a proposal to this effect to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Tree Authority which will meet on Wednesday to take a final decision. Work on the freeway has already begun. Chief Engineer, MMRDA, S Nandargirkar said that these trees were creating obstacles in the widening of the road. “We have identified locations for widening and accordingly have sought permission to remove trees,” he said.

The Rs 531-crore Eastern Freeway, funded under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is expected to be completed by December 2010. Once ready, it is expected to drastically reduce the travel time — about 20 minutes for the entire stretch — and make commuting easier from the Mumbai’s central and eastern suburbs to the island city.

The Tree Authority members have already visited the site and have agreed that trees need to be removed for implementing the project. Of the 1011 trees, the members have given nod to cut 423 trees and the remaining 528 will need be replanted. However, a final decision on the proposal is expected to be taken only after a discussion on Wednesday.

Tree Authority member and horticulturist Dr Nilesh Baxi said removal of such a large number of trees will have a huge impact on the green cover of the area. “Around 1000 trees will be removed and the entire green cover on the stretch will be lost,” he said. “I will definitely oppose the proposal and insist that the trees be re-planted at the same location after road-widening,” he said.

Earlier, for the Haji Ali beautification project, which required removal of 84 trees, Baxi had undertaken Chipko movement against tree-cutting. “We will take a decision regarding similar opposition after the meeting,” he said.

The Tree Authority will also discuss the proposal to remove 470 trees at Borivli (East) for the construction of a hospital, and Hotel Horizon’s request for permission to remove 23 trees for the construction of a new hotel on Juhu Tara Road.