Mangrove cell starts demolition drives in newly-acquired areas

The state forest department’s mangrove cell started to identify and demolish illegal structures built on notified forest land in mangrove areas, whose custody it has received over the past year

Mumbai The state forest department’s mangrove cell started to identify and demolish illegal structures built on notified forest land in mangrove areas, whose custody it has received over the past year.

Unauthorised construction in mangroves has been a recurrent problem in and around the city (Bachchan Kumar)

In the last week, in Thane’s Kopri village, the forest department initiated prosecution against seven people for erecting six shanties on CRZ-1 land and action has been planned against another 100 such structures.

“We will conduct field surveys to identify and remove illegal structures in the forest land that have been handed to us for safekeeping by the Bombay high court. There are about 100 illegal homes which have been built in the Kopri mangroves and more demolition drives are being planned in coming days,” said Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forests, mangrove cell.

Investigations are also being carried out against illegal reclamation of mangroves in Juhu, Sector-16 (Kharghar), and other locations.

Unauthorised construction in mangroves has been a recurrent problem in and around the city. Taking action against them has been part of the mandate of local authorities since 2005, when, acting on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by NGO Bombay Environment Action Group, the HC banned destruction of mangroves across the state and prohibited construction within 50m of mangroves. As environmentalists point out though, implementation has been limited, with various urban local and state bodies reluctant to dedicate resources for the same.

In 2021, a total of 1,810 hectares of land were handed over to the mangrove department for safekeeping by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation and the City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). Just over 3,000 hectares of mangroves on government land are expected to be transferred this year, with a major chunk of about 1,400 hectares being in Vasai-Virar, 900 hectares at the Jawaharlal Nehru port in Uran and another 800 or so hectares scattered across other bodies.

“The plan is to clear as many encroachments in the newly acquired mangroves before the monsoon, when the flood risk in these reclaimed areas becomes high. We have observed that many informal homes are coming up in low lying areas with intent to sell them. The entire process is illegal,” said an official at the post of assistant conservator of forest (ACF), requesting not to be named.

Since 2017, the mangrove cell has demolished nearly 3,000 illegal constructions in mangroves and their 50-metre buffer zone. The state is yet to convict any violator in any of the cases.

“While demolition of standalone structures is good, the forest department should also turn its attention to the acres of mangroves in Thane and Raigad districts which are being reclaimed in a much more organised fashion with impunity. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, CIDCO, JNPT and the former NMSEZ are carrying out similar violations at a whole different scale, but there is hardly any effort to hold these bodies accountable,” said BN Kumar, Navi Mumbai-based environmentalist.