Destruction of Amreli mangroves: Gujarat High Court issues notice to Centre, state govt

According to the PIL moved by Haresh Bhambhaniya in Amreli, there has been “indiscriminate cutting and destruction of mangroves in and around Jafrabad town in Amreli”, more specifically in the area of Sama Kantha Creek. The petitioner has also submitted that he saw heavy machinery, such as JCB machines, being used to level the land on December 22, 2023 following which mangroves were uprooted and the construction of a playground was underway.

After repeated requests, the district administration provided Bhambhaniya with a communication by local MLA Hirabhai Solanki who had, in a letter to the District Collector on December 31, 2023, sought an approval for construction of the cricket ground on the said “wasteland” citing a lack of such fields in Jafrabad.

Highlighting that the land where the mangroves were located falls under the regulated zone of the Coastal Regulation Zone notification of 2019, Bhambhaniya further highlighted that the land in question falls in ‘high tide line’ where no construction activities can be carried out within 500 metres of landward side of the high tide line as stipulated under the CRZ-I notification.

The court has sought responses from the Ministry of Environment as well as the state government and the district Collector and mamlatdar to the contentions raised in the petition by the next date of hearing.