5 min readRajkotMay 23, 2024 12:28 PM IST
First published on: May 22, 2024 at 05:49 PM IST
At a time when the Indian Premier League (IPL) fervour is reaching its peak, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the playoff matches, a cricket ground some 320 km down south in the Amreli district of Gujarat has been in the news for the wrong reasons.
Around two weeks after the Gujarat High Court served notices to the Centre, the Gujarat government and the Amreli district collector on the alleged illegal removal of mangroves in the fragile coastal regulation zone (CRZ) in Jafrabad for the construction of the cricket ground, local government officers and the police have swung into action to reclaim the land.
The Amreli district CRZ committee discussed the matter in its meeting on May 15. Following an order by the committee, the cricket ground, nestled by lush green mangroves and water channels in the Jafrabad creek, was flattened by heavy machinery on May 17 and 18, and the land was levelled again.
“The state CRZ committee told us that that action can be taken under the Environment Protection Act and that restoration work should also be undertaken. Accordingly, we removed the earthen bunds and levelled the area again over the weekend,” Ajay Dahiya, district collector of Amreli and chairman of Amreli district CRZ committee, told The Indian Express on Wednesday.
The flattening of the cricket ground on the eastern end of the bridge across Jafrabad harbour came around six months after it was developed late in December (Special arrangement)
In the meantime, based on a complaint filed by a Gujarat Pollution Control Board regional officer (Bhavnagar), Alkesh Rathod, the Jafrabad police booked unidentified people for destroying mangroves and began a probe on Monday. The FIR was filed under Environment Protection Act Section 25 (contravention of provisions of the EP Act) and Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 427 (mischief causing damage or loss amounting to Rs 50 or more).
The flattening of the cricket ground on the eastern end of the bridge across Jafrabad harbour came around six months after it was developed late in December. Local community leaders in Jafrabad said the cricket ground was developed by local fishermen.
“Some local youths got the mangroves removed and the land levelled to play cricket during the monsoon which is an off-season for fishermen,” said a community leader.
“However, others feared that the group of youth may later on claim exclusive rights on the facility. So, they opposed it.”
A local advocate, Haresh Bambhaniya, was the first to raise voice against mangroves’ destruction. “On December 22, I noticed that earthmoving machinery was at work, uprooting mangroves and creating an earthen bund. I immediately went to the office of Jafrabad mamlatdar and gave him an application, seeking his intervention for the protection of mangroves,” said Bambhaniya, who moved the Gujarat High Court with a public interest litigation (PIL) plea as the work continued for the next few days.
The flattening of the cricket ground on the eastern end of the bridge across Jafrabad harbour came around six months after it was developed late in December (Special arrangement)
“Initially, we didn’t know why they were clearing them. Eventually, it transpired that they cleared the area for a cricket ground and secured it from three sides by creating an earthen bund to prevent tidal waters from entering the field,” Bambhaniya said.
“Mangroves are very precious in Jafrabad, and they need to be protected for protection of local ecosystem and environment. There are 104 plots of government wasteland in Jafrabad. They could have created a cricket ground on any of them. In fact, the district sports officer had proposed to create a multi-sports playground in Mitiyala village, some 3 km away from Jafrabad and the matter is still pending,” he added.
The advocate, who entered active politics by joining the Congress and taking on the role of president of the Jafrabad town unit in early May, said the facility also posed a risk to the safety of players and commuters. “The cricket ground was hardly 10 metres away from water channels and surrounded by swaps. This posed a risk to whoever played cricket there. Secondly, it was right on the edge of the Jafrabad-Rajula highway, creating traffic snarls.”
After Bambhaniya raised the matter with local officers, Hira Solanki, the BJP MLA from the Rajula Assembly seat, which covers Jafrabad, wrote to the Amreli collector on December 31, seeking approval for the cricket ground in the Jafrabad creek and underlined that there were no such facilities in the coastal town.
However, in his PIL, Bambhaniya highlighted that the area falls in a high tide line, meaning an intertidal zone which gets flooded during high tide and as per CRZ regulations, such facilities blocking tidal waves cannot be allowed.
IPL Eliminator in Ahmedabad
Meanwhile, Ahmedabad hosted the IPL Eliminator between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Wednesday night. The winner will play Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai in Qualifier-2 on Friday to decide the second finalist.
Kolkata Knight Riders booked their spot in the final, to be played in Chennai on Sunday, by beating Sunrisers in Qualifier-1 in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
The flattening of the cricket ground on the eastern end of the bridge across Jafrabad harbour came around six months after it was developed late in December. Local community leaders in Jafrabad said the cricket ground was developed by local fishermen. Express photo 
The flattening of the cricket ground on the eastern end of the bridge across Jafrabad harbour came around six months after it was developed late in December (Special arrangement)
The flattening of the cricket ground on the eastern end of the bridge across Jafrabad harbour came around six months after it was developed late in December (Special arrangement)
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