Going, going, gone!
Mumbai Mirror tracks how land sharks are stealthily devouring mangroves at four sites in the city…….Geeta Desai, Virat A Singh, Satish Malavade, Raju Shinde
Mumbai Mirror tracks how land sharks are stealthily devouring mangroves at four sites in the city…….Geeta Desai, Virat A Singh, Satish Malavade, Raju Shinde
Mumbai’s greed for land is not only insatiable, it’s suicidal. It hasn’t spared the coastline’s first line of defence against eco-disasters: mangroves. In a systematic and insidious racket, land sharks are relentlessly inching into stretches of wetlands.
This is how they do it: Stealthily dump construction debris, which the city has in plenty, on the mangroves. Let slums grow on this reclaimed land. Turn the site into a prime housing plot in the guise of a slum redevelopment scheme. Poof! Mangroves gone. Sometimes, wetland-grabbers even make bunds to prevent creek water from coming in so that the mangroves die on their own.
All this is happening despite the High Court order banning all non-forest activities on mangroves. Because it is a process and not an event, it is going unchecked. It’s hard to pin responsibility as the authorities pass the buck or simply turn a blind eye to the illegal activity. An official from the State Environment department, predictably requesting anonymity, said, “Everyone, including local politicians and bureaucrats, are part of this system.”
The department had recently announced lofty plans to set up a committee to stop the slow death of these eco-systems. But the action is still at the drawing board. Meanwhile, the ground reality gets more and more alarming every day.
Mumbai Mirror took a close look at the ongoing and organised destruction of four patches of mangroves.
Bandra-Kurla Complex
More than 10 acres have been swallowed up here in the past five months. Each day, loaded trucks line up and dump construction debris on spots, which are commonly 5X5 square feet in size and have been secured with rope.
Dyaneshwar Nagar and other slums have come up on this reclaimed land. In the past three months, only one complaint was lodged at the local police station. The truck driver accused in this complaint, which carries no other detail, was fined a mere Rs 200.
When we visited the site, there were two trucks, people on motorbikes and almost eight workers in the area. When our photographer took pictures of the activity, those present tried to stop him. On realising that they were being photographed, the group fled the site.
This land belongs to the collector. Vishwas Patil, the collector of suburban Mumbai, admitted that he was aware of the activity and said necessary steps would be taken.
Malad – Malwani
Right behind a board, shouting out loud that the land belongs to the Forest Department, more than seven acres have been reclaimed illegally. The debris has taken the level of the spot almost 10 feet higher than the surface of the adjoining area. On the area, there is a shed made up of tin sheets, used as a Satsang hall by Sant Nirankari Baba Ashram. The plot even has an enquiry office for the ashram and a house for the ‘caretaker’ of the property.
Vidya Sharma, who lives in this house, said, “Officials from the collector’s office do come here regularly and ask us to leave. But where can we go? The chief of the ashram Vijay Sharma said, “Earlier we had a concrete structure here. The collector demolished the place several times. However, we now use a tin shed. We are not creating any nuisance and are, in fact, preventing slums from coming up here.” Meanwhile, Patil said, “We are going to take action against the ashram very shortly.”
Dahisar Link Road
This is the site for the most dense mangrove area in the Western suburbs. According to BMC, there were 404 structures at Ganpat Patil Nagar, Dahisar Link Road, in 1995. That number now stands at 8,000. Harish Pande, secretary of New Link Road Residents Forum (NLRFF), says, “A skywalk, paver block units, garages, illegal bus parking areas, hookah parlours and medical stores: Ganpat Patil Nagar has it all. If the authorities say that they do not know how these came up on the CRZ land, they must all resign.”
Deputy Police Commissioner, Zone 11, Sanjay Bannerjee, said he had formed special police squads to ensure offenders were caught and booked. Top officials from the government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) maintain that they are serving notices to culprits and carrying out demolitions. Even then, NLRRF said residents catch trucks dumping debris inside the mangroves every week.
A BMC official, who did not wish to be named, said slumlords, who had the blessings of various political parties, were facilitating the destruction of these mangroves.
Juhu Versova Link Road
The realty price here is about Rs 15,000 to 20,000 per square feet. It is not surprising that mangroves are being encroached upon inch by inch. Harinder Bhasin from Save Versova Beach Association (SVBA) alleged, “A small piece of land, reserved by the collector’s office, borders the mangroves patch. Since 2005, unidentified people have been dumping debris just outside the boundary of this plot in the night.” He adds that a series of complaints at BMC K/West ward, collector’s office and the police station halted the activity for some time but the dumping resumed a few months ago. SVBA is planning to seek information on the ownership of this plot under the Right to Information Act.
A senior official from collector’s office, who did not wish to be named, said, “We will look into this and take appropriate action.” In 2006, BMC K/West Ward had promised the residents of the area that they would build a fence around the mangrove land but this plan has not been executed. A BMC official, who also requested anonymity, said, “We will have to check our records regarding the fence.”