Greens complain of destruction of mangroves in Thane Creek near Airoli

Environmentalists have expressed concern over destruction of a vast stretch of mangroves in the Thane Creek near the Airoli toll naka; activists have drawn the attention of the High Court-appointed Mangrove Protection and Conservation Committee to the strange phenomenon

Environmentalists have expressed concern over destruction of a vast stretch of mangroves in the Thane Creek near the Airoli toll naka.

Environmentalists want a top-level investigation into the destruction of a vast stretch of mangroves in the Thane Creek near the Airoli toll naka. (For representational purposes only) (HT FILE PHOTO)

NatConnect Foundation and Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan have drawn the attention of the High Court-appointed Mangrove Protection and Conservation Committee to the strange phenomenon.

NatConnect Foundation director, BN Kumar, said there should be a top-level investigation into the incident.

“Normally, some mangroves wither due to pest attack during winter but the plants regrow on their own, but this kind of perishing of the plants is very strange,” said Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan.

Environmentalists have suggested that a thorough chemical analysis of the water might give clues to the contamination or pollution, if any.

The green groups have earlier brought to the notice of the authorities the dumping of medical waste along the mangroves. Meanwhile, a case of dumping debris on the main road at Ghansoli has come to the notice of environmentalists.

Adarsh Reddy, District Forest Officer, Thane, and Member Secretary of the High Court-appointed Mangrove Committee, said, “This particular issue was noticed by Mangrove cell last year and our team is monitoring the area. There might be a number of reasons of which the primary reason could be a hyblaea attack that is reported post monsoon every year. Over a period of time, every season, mangroves are getting affected twice or thrice than what it was observed a decade before. But one probably good thing that is observed is that naturally the species is getting replaced by other mangrove species. The area where these Avicennia trees are found dead has now been taken over by Sonneratia apetala, which is not favoured by hyblaea moths for feeding.”

Reddy said that the department is undertaking restoration of the area by planting diversity of other mangrove species that are found locally and all the efforts will be made to restore the area with mangrove vegetation.