Maharashtra: 4000 Hectares Mangroves Will Be Preserved After Green SOS To PM

In response to an environmentalist’s complaint, the Bombay High Court (HC) appointed mangrove committee confirmed that the approximately 4,000 hectares of mangroves were transferred to the forest department for conservation in the state. The State Mangrove Cell took possession of 21099.55 hectares of mangrove-bearing lands. It has also identified a surplus of 3948.36 hectares. Other departments have been instructed that they should give away the mangrove areas to the forest department.

The High Court-appointed committee took relevant steps to ensure that the transfer of mangroves on about 4,000 hectares, equivalent to the size of 400 Azad Maidans is done soonest and conveniently.

When environmentalists complained to the Prime Minister about the High Court's September 2018 order to safeguard all mangroves in the state and transfer them to the forest department for protection, the State Mangrove Cell affirmed the decision.

NatConnect Foundation wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the letter, the foundation alleged that State authorities have been unable to ensure the implementation of the High Court order, and its failure to do so leads to unchecked destruction of mangroves at several places such as Mankhurd, Chembur, Ulwe, Kharghar, Vashi, and Uran.

According to Nandakumar Pawar, the head of NGO Sagarshakti, the 4,000 hectares that have been formally validated contain more than 40 lakh mangroves.

The NatConnect complaint was made in relation to the Centre's admission in Parliament that, as indicated by the government in Parliament, approximately 34% of the coastline has been eroding to varied degrees over the previous 28 years. The National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), an attached office of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has been tracking shoreline erosion since 1990 using remote sensing data and GIS mapping methods, according to Union Minister of State with Independent Charge of Earth Sciences Dr. Jitendra Singh.

Till the year 2018, a total of 6907.18 km of long coastline of the mainland has been analysed. It was then observed that 33.6% of the coastline is under varying degrees of erosion, said the Minister in a written reply during the Monsoon Session of Parliament last year.

The government report, which was released shortly after studies found that vast portions of coastlines could be submerged by increasing sea levels in as little as 28 years, is extremely concerning for coastal regions like the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), NatConnect director B N Kumar noted.

He claimed that despite the government's stated commitment to protecting marine plants, mangroves, the natural coastal protection mechanism, are routinely being destroyed. The PMO has raised the issue with the State Government, which in turn has asked the Mangrove Cell for a response.

The Cell Head SV Ramarao confirmed in writing to Kumar that the Forest Department has taken possession of 21099.55 hectares of Mangrove-Bearing Lands. The Forest Department has also identified a total of 3948.36 Hectares of Mangrove bearing lands which are with CIDCO and Revenue Department.At sessions of the Mangrove Protection and Conservation Monitoring Committee, which is chaired by the Divisional Commissioner for the Konkan Division, the problem of managing custody of these places was considered. By the end of October 2023, CIDCO must have finished the process of turning over the last of the mangrove areas it owns to the Forest Department. The mangrove cell reported that CIDCO had around 1200 hectares of mangroves with it. Other departments were told to transfer as soon as possible.