HC asks lawyers to inspect compensatory mangrove plantation sites

The division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale issued the instructions on July 23 after noticing inordinate delays on the part of the forest department in completing compensatory mangrove plantations

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court has appointed two lawyers to visit compensatory mangrove plantation sites in Mumbai and its outskirts and ascertain if work was carried out as per claims made by the forest department via an affidavit in court.

In this photograph taken on September 13, 2019, forest department officials walk back after inspecting a mangrove plantation during a patrol at Belapur in Navi Mumbai. (AFP)

The division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale issued the instructions on July 23 after noticing inordinate delays on the part of the forest department in completing compensatory mangrove plantations.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), seeking permission to construct a car shed for line five of the metro at Kasheli in Thane and erect a transmission line through mangrove forests.

The court had, during the previous hearing on July 22, allowed the MMRDA to remove at least 26 mangrove trees as the metro line was a project of immense public importance. It had also directed the forest department to produce files pertaining to compensatory afforestation undertaken during the preceding three years.

On July 23, the judges were irked to note inordinate delays in compensatory afforestation drives from charts submitted by the forest department, which showed that plantations were not completed even for projects cleared in 2019.

For instance, the Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was allowed to remove mangrove trees for the first and second phase of the Malad sewage treatment plant in August 2019 and February 2023, respectively, and the civic body had deposited the money required for compensatory afforestation immediately after approvals were granted.

However, the afforestation in Kopari and Bhopar villages of Thane district, for phase one, was completed as late as March 2025 while the plantation in Mogharpada and Tarodi villages, for phase two, was yet to be undertaken and would only be completed by September 2025. In all, 102,212 mangroves had been planted and geo-tagged while the plantation of 44,444 mangrove trees was still underway.

In cases where approvals to remove mangroves for public infrastructure projects were granted in 2020-2022, plantation was to be completed only by 2026-27, charts submitted by the forest department showed.

“No real efforts are undertaken by the said respondents in planting mangroves/trees,” the division bench observed while perusing the charts. “In fact, there is delay in the plantation of mangroves/trees even after permissions are granted and monies are deposited.”

The judges were furious to note that the money deposited by project proponents for compensatory afforestation was in some cases diverted for other conservation purposes.

“The said chart is extremely disturbing,” the court said and requested advocate Vishal Kanade, and advocate Aditya Mehta from the Bombay Environment Action Group (BEAG), a non-profit, to visit some of the afforestation sites and ascertain if plantation was undertaken as claimed in the charts.

The court asked the lawyers to submit the inspection report by July 30, when the matter will be taken up for further hearing.