Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Will Get E5 Shinkansen Train Sets; 54K Mangroves Will Be Destroyed?

The Indian Railways plans to set the plan of building a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in motion soon. But as much as 54000 mangroves are to be wrecked in order for these plans to take shape.

Yes, that is correct. The Minister of Railways and Commerce in the Government of India, Piyush Goyal has confirmed the news that the set up of the Mumbai Ahmedabad bullet train will commence soon, and will take a few crore bucks to form.

The train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is going to be India’s first ever bullet train, but at what cost?

Will the Government let 54000 mangroves come in harm’s way for the sake of development? Read on to know all about the plans in detail.

India’s First Ever Bullet Train: Will It Harm 54000 Mangroves?

Responding to a query in the Rajya Sabha, the railway minister, Piyush Goyal said that 24 bullet train sets have been planned through the process of tendering, and the estimated cost for the whole train is Rs 1,08,000 crore. 

The train will be developed on the technique of E5 Shinkansen technology of Japan, and a memorandum of understanding has been signed between the NHSRCL (National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited) and the Japanese side. 

On the other hand, state transport minister Diwakar Raote said, in response to Shiv Sena legislator Maneesha Kayande in the state Legislative Council, that around 54000 mangroves spread across 13.36 hectares will be affected as they are on the way of the bullet train. 

54000 is a huge number of trees to be fallen, under the progressive name tag of ‘development’, and a group of environmentalists approached the PMO and requested to stop the wrecking of the said mangroves. 

PMO’s Response To The Activists’ Plea

The NHRSCL responded to the activists’ plea, and has redesigned the station of the Thane station in Maharashtra, which will lessen the impact and the number of trees that will be affected.

NHRSCL Managing Director Achal Khare said,“The location of station is the same but after the redesigning now only three hectares will get affected as compared to the earlier 12 hectares of mangrove region. So this way, we have reduced the destruction of 21,000 mangroves and now only 32,044 mangroves will get affected by the entire project.”

Also, the Government will be planting 5 plants in place of each one that will be cut in the making of the bullet train. 

In a day and age, where pollution is on the rise, and trees are the basic necessity of each and every one of us as humans, to survive and grow in a breathable environment, destroying such a huge number of trees makes no sense. 

The E5 Series Shinkansen Train Technology

The Mumbai Ahmedabad bullet train will be employing the E5Shinkansen technology,  known for its record for a low to none fatality. The train tracks will be reducing the effect of tunnel boom – which is a loud sound produced by trains when they are at the end of a tunnel. This noise is at extremely high levels, and is terribly disturbing for people living nearby or even the passengers traveling on the trains. 

To prevent this tunnel boom, there is a 15-meter long extension attached to the front of the train which does not allow the air around the train to escape in random directions. Additionally, the train sets are fitted with low noise pantographs and soundproof materials on both sides, and this helps reduce the noise by a large quantity.