It yet another case of development versus environment in Mumbai as Bombay High Court has given the go-ahead to cut over 200 mangrove trees in Navi Mumbai for the construction of the international airport.
A bench of Justices Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Riyaz Chagla last week allowed an application filed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd. (CIDCO) seeking approval to axe 203 mangroves.
The application was made by CIDCO to construct three RCC bridges (reinforced cement concrete) and remove an existing bund, where the Ulwe Recourse Channel meets the Moha creek at Ulwe.
CIDCO has stated that the site where the bridges will be constructed falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) I and II areas and a total of 2.1918 hectares of land would be affected by the construction. Therefore, CIDCO had filed a plea saying that it had obtained the requisite clearances for the proposed alignment of the Ulwe Recourse Channel, which would allow free flow of water into the Moha creek.
The corporation also claimed that the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) had granted a 'conditional' clearance, asking it to plant 2,030 trees (almost 10 times the number of trees that are being cut).
While CIDCO had received the clearances, the corporation was bound to approach the High Court due to a judgment passed by Justice Abhay Oka, who had imposed a blanket ban on cutting of mangroves in the state. As per the judgement passed by Justice Oka, the mangroves can be cut down if the application is approved by the High Court.
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