Residents say builder was burning patches of dry mangroves

Residents, who are keeping a close watch on the restoration of the Dahisar mangroves, on Tuesday morning alleged that Kandivli builder Jayesh Shah was burning patches of dry mangroves.

Residents, who are keeping a close watch on the restoration of the Dahisar mangroves, on Tuesday morning alleged that Kandivli builder Jayesh Shah was burning patches of dry mangroves.

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“These are the same mangroves that started dying for want of sea water after the builder constructed bunds last summer,” said Harish Pandey of the New Link Road Residents’ Forum. “The builder should be focusing on restoring the mangroves according to the Supreme Court orders. But he clearly has no intention of doing so.”

The Supreme Court, in January, had directed the builder to remove the bunds, clear the debris dumped there and restore the area within 60 days.

If the builder failed to do so, the collector would have to restore the area and recover the money from Shah.

With 75% of the stipulated time frame over, residents said there is no way the builder would complete the work.

An inspection carried out by the suburban collector’s office last month stated that the builder had not completed even 5% of the work.

Suburban collector Nirmal Deshmukh was unavailable for comment, but an official from his department said, on condition of anonymity that a site inspection would be undertaken.

“We have written to the collector and the environment secretary to initiate an inspection on the site,” said Pandey.