The Mangrove Cell’s cleaning activities in the city have been delayed because of its inability to pay higher wages to hired labourers. A month after the drive started, the cell still has not been able to find workers to clean the mangrove patch in Bandra. The Versova area cleaning started only on Thursday. “We had a hard time finding labourers to clean the mangrove patches in Versova and Bandra as they were demanding at least Rs 600 per day as wages. The government wage board has fixed the per day pay at Rs 327. Considering the cost of living in the city, no labourer wants to work at such a low rate,” said an official from the Mangrove Cell. While the state Mangrove Cell began its cleaning drive on January 1, it could not be taken up in many parts of the city until much later due to non-availability of workers. Work at the Airoli stretch began only by January 4 and in Bhandup, the drive was taken up on January 9. “The cleaning got delayed as we could not find anyone who was willing to work at this meagre pay. The workers in Bhandup and Airoli were demanding at least Rs Rs 400-500 (a day) as that is the market rate. Why would they take up a government job that pays them less?” asked an official. To clean the mangroves in the eastern and southern regions, the cell has engaged labourers from Jawhar, outside the city. “It is impossible to get labourers from Mumbai at this cost. It is particularly difficult to get people to clean the mangroves as it is marshy land and often has shards of glass. So, we hired labourers from outside and provided them with food and accommodation, apart from daily wages,” said another official. While the cell has engaged around 20 labourers at Dahisar, it has hired 10 workers each at Gorai and Versova, 14 at Airoli and eight at Bhandup. A group of 15 camping labourers are taking turns in cleaning mangrove patches in Ghatkopar, Turbhe, Sewri and Colaba. N Vasudevan, the Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, State Mangrove Cell, said: “The labourers have other employment opportunities and so, they do not prefer to take these jobs. Some places we have managed to get staff but in places we haven’t, we will consider outsourcing the work. I will review the progress of work by the end of February and based on the situation, we will take a decision.” In the last month, the cell has collected around two tonne waste per day from Dahisar, Turbhe and Ghatkopar and around half-a-tonne waste from Gorai. Bhandup and Airoli together have generated around 75 tonnes of waste. “Our staffers are cleaning the mangroves everyday, through the day, and in the weekends, we try to rope in NGOs and individuals. We will continue the drive till the end of May,” Vasudevan said. The cell has set aside Rs 50 lakhs for the drive. But it does not include funds for safety equipments for the workers. “We are providing safety gears to outsiders who are pitching in to clean the mangroves. But we will ensure that there is no harm caused to the workers,” Vasudevan added. An official said: “Since they are working in marshy land, it is not possible to wear boots as they get stuck. They mostly work barefoot and tend to injure themselves on shards of glass. We have medical kit at hand to deal with any emergency.” Recently, NGO Vanashakti had filed a petition at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) over the pollution of coastal wetlands, creeks and beaches in Mumbai due to improper waste management. The petition highlights the damage to the mangrove ecosystem because of waste flowing into the creeks. “Our NGO has been regularly working on coastal wetlands and we have found that over the years, the quantum of non-degradable waste has increased tremendously. While the beaches are being cleaned, the mangroves are the worst hit as they cannot be cleaned. During high tide, all the waste gets stuck in these areas. In one day, we have removed half-a-tonne of waste from just one area. Unless the inflow is stopped, all efforts taken up to clean would be wasted,” said Stalin Dayanand, the Director, Vanashakti. Vasudevan said: “It is important that solid waste is segregated at the source and not discharged into the sea. But it is a long process and involves sensitisation of people. Cleaning the mangroves is not a permanent solution and not sustainable. But till the problem is not addressed at source this is a solution. Our focus right now is to clean what has accumulated over the years. But we need to have a comprehensive plan to address the problem.”
