Dahisar mangroves still not free of debris….Viju B
Mumbai : The survival of around 400 acres of mangroves at Dahisar is doubtful in spite of a Supreme Court order on January 31 that directed removal of debris around the mangrove land to open up bunds.
A visit by state officials on February 23 at survey (site) number 344 adjoining Gorai creek showed that a major portion of the debris is yet to be removed.We visited all the spots here and found that hardly any debris has been removed and the culverts are still choked, said a senior official who was part of the visit.
On January 31,the Supreme Court directed builder Jayesh Shah to reopen the bunds that were choking the mangroves so that water could be let in within 60 days to ensure that the original condition of the landas it was in January 2010could be restored.
A team of state officials led by subdivisional officer Mumbai suburban district,tehesildar,a senior forest department official,police and civic official conducted a site visit following a complaint filed by New Link Road Residents Forum to the Mumbai suburban collector last month.The team has now submitted a detailed report to the collector.We have recommended that the developer should be asked to speed up the removal of debris as only three weeks are left to comply with the Supreme Court order.
The forum filed a fresh complaint last month when it learnt that debris was not removed nor had the culverts been reopened to enable flow of water.Fresh shoots of mangroves that have come up need water.Already,we have lost valuable time as free flow of water has been stopped for several months.Added to this,summer has set in.The mangroves will die, said Harish Pandey,member of the forum.
* SC had ordered removal of the debris