150 encroachments cleared from Chedda Nagar mangrove reserved forest

A one-and-a-half-acre mangrove area in Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road was freed from encroachers on Monday.

A one-and-a-half-acre mangrove area in Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road was freed from encroachers on Monday.

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As per directions from the Bombay high court (HC)-appointed state mangrove protection committee, a team of over a hundred people from the mangrove cell, police and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) destroyed 150 illegal shanties at Chedda Nagar, Chembur, close to the Eastern Express Highway. The mangrove is a reserved forest.

“With proper permissions in place, we have removed all shanties using excavator machines. We began digging trenches to ensure high tide water enters this patch. This will rejuvenate mangroves and ensure shanties do not return,” said Suresh Varak, range forest officer (mangrove cell) who led the operation.

Members of the HC committee were also present at the site. “Encroachers had managed to dismantle and divert a BMC water pipeline for their own consumption. Now, swift restoration work needs to be initiated,” said Stalin D, member.

There are no plans on rehabilitation of the families that are now homeless. “Under forest laws, we are only directed to destroy the structures. Rehabilitation is not our responsibility,” added Varak.