Dont destroy mangroves: enviromentalists

In a bid to give a fresh lease of life to the dying mangroves across the Vakola nullah at BKC,environmentalists on Wednesday staged a demonstration to protest against the ongoing construction work by the MMRDA.

In a bid to give a fresh lease of life to the dying mangroves across the Vakola nullah at BKC,environmentalists on Wednesday staged a demonstration to protest against the ongoing construction work by the MMRDA. The development body is in an effort to retain the wall along the nullah. According to the enviromentalists,the wall along the nullah will stop the water flow from the Mithi river to the mangroves on the other side. Thus,it will destroy the last patch of mangroves on the Bandra-Kurla belt,they said. They also claimed that building such a wall was against the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules and violation of a High Court order of 2005.

In October 2005,the Bombay High Court had passed an order ensuring the protection of mangroves in Maharashtra by disallowing construction within 50 metres around the mangroves. This is a clear violation of the court order and CRZ rules, said Rishi Aggarwal,environmentalist and joint secretary of Mangrove Society of India,Mumbai chapter.

The mangroves are important for the city as they could stop floods like the one happened on 26/7 in the future. The Vakola nullah belt,which is approximately 200-300 acres in area,was filled with mangroves. But these mangroves had to be destroyed to make way for slums. Eventually,we had to face the grim situations like deluge. If these mangroves are destroyed,there is no doubt that another deluge will happen, said Dr Jimish Modi,convener,Jagrut Nagrik Manch.

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Activists admit that because of the lack of active citizens participation,other stretches of mangroves in the city also disappeared. Years ago,Lokhandwala complex in Andheri had a good stretch of mangroves,but that eventually disappeared resulting in complete submerging of Juhu every monsoon. Now,we dont want to lose this stretch too, said Veena Shanghvi,an activist.

If such protests dont yield any result,the activists said they would file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). We are in the process of getting help from as many environment bodies we can. Even international bodies have showed interest. But if all measures fail,we will file a PIL, said Modi. If the authorities continue with their indifferent attitude,we will move the court,added Aggarwal.

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Dont destroy mangroves: enviromentalists

In a bid to give a fresh lease of life to the dying mangroves across the Vakola nullah at BKC,environmentalists on Wednesday staged a demonstration to protest against the ongoing construction work by the MMRDA.

Dont destroy mangroves: enviromentalists