Mumbai: Coastal zone authority seeks probe into mangrove destruction

Illegal dumping of debris in the Thane creek along the Sion-Panvel Highway is killing the mangroves

In its first response to a five-year-old complaint, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has asked the Konkan divisional commissioner and state mangrove committee to investigate destruction of mangroves in the Thane creek along the Sion-Panvel highway by the debris mafia. The complaint was filed on August 1, 2018, by B N Kumar director of NatConnect Foundation, an NGO, which alleged the destruction of mangroves at Vashi and Mankhurd by the dumping of construction debris. Kumar had also submitted the same complaint to the environment department three months later. Nanda Kumar Pawar, who heads the organisation Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishthan, also lodged a similar complaint with the mangrove committee in December 2018 against the destruction.

All these years, the High Court-appointed mangrove committee headed by the Konkan divisional commissioner was dealing with the complaint with no conclusive outcome. "The net result is that mangroves continue to perish and no official is taking responsibility in accordance with the High Court order to protect the tidal plants as our fundamental right," Pawar said. Kumar regretted that many officials and ministers travel on the highway yet no one cares for the mangroves. "We are shocked and appalled with the pace of functioning of the all important MCZMA," said Kumar.

Construction waste illegally dumped by the debris mafia on mangroves in the Thane creek along the Sion-Panvel highway

The latest MCZMA letter signed by Vishal Mandane, under secretary- environment, said the Authority had requested the divisional commissioner and the mangrove committee on September 19, 2023 to verify the complaint against the debris mafia and the response was yet to be received. Mandane, therefore, asked the officials to check the status of violations under the provisions of CRZ notifications and the various orders by the High Court. It may be noted that the divisional commissioner also heads the HC appointed mangrove committee.

The mangrove committee, on its part, initially referred the issue to the Thane district collector who in turn asked the tahsildar to inquire. The tehsildar committee had reported that the debris was seen touching the mangroves, but not damaging the sea plants. The environmental group challenged this finding and protested to the mangrove committee. NatConnect also pointed out that apart from the debris mafia, the PWD which has been expanding the highway has also been dumping the huge construction waste on the mangroves.

The mangrove committee then directed the Thane district collector to seek an explanation from the PWD and the issue was repeated on the panel's agenda for months together. Later, the mangrove committee asked the executive engineer to be present at its meeting and explain. The issue remained on the agenda with the remarks - PWD was asked to explain - for several months, Kumar said.

Meanwhile, acting on Kumar's complaint the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the mangrove committee have claimed that they cleared the debris. NatConnect questioned these claims and said the debris, on the contrary, was levelled for facilitating the highway expansion.

At one stage, NMMC had even planned to build a protective wall along the highway but the green groups opposed it saying the destruction behind the wall cannot be monitored. Moreover, the wall could block the free flow of intertidal waters. Since the Mankhurd part of the violation concerns the salt pan commissioner, the mangrove committee asked the official for a report.

The status on the agenda and the minutes of the HC panel's 25th meeting held on September 12 reflect the same remarks: "Salt pan commissioner has been asked to submit his report." The documents named executive engineer- PWD, saltpan commissioner and BMC as the implementing agencies.

Aug 1
Day complaint was filed in 2018