Mangrove cell clears cattle shed on CRZ-1 in Vashi
The cell served notice to Pralhad Bhagat, a resident of Vashi village, who allegedly built cattle shed and some other structures near a temple at Sector-6 of Vashi node, said Range Forest Officer Sudhir Laxman Manjare of Mangrove Cell, Navi Mumbai
NAVI MUMBAI: A cattle shed built on a 2,200 sq meter mangrove area in Vashi was demolished by the state forest department’s mangrove cell on Friday.
The cell served notice to Pralhad Bhagat, a resident of Vashi village, who allegedly built cattle shed and some other structures near a temple at Sector-6 of Vashi node, said Range Forest Officer Sudhir Laxman Manjare of Mangrove Cell, Navi Mumbai.
Bhagat also agreed to demolish the structures on his own and started the action on Friday morning under the supervision of the Mangrove Cell team, Range Forest Officer Sudhir Manjare said.
Welcoming the action, NatConnect director B N Kumar pointed out that there has been some noticeable action after Manjare was posted here last year. In fact, he cleared hurdles in the free flow of intertidal water at Kharghar and saved mangroves and a piece of wetland.
Kumar now drew several other structures and levelling of debris on mangroves in Vashi itself.
Reminding the forest department officials of their promise to install CCTV cameras at mangroves along the coast, NatConnect wondered as to when the project would be executed. It is inhuman to expect the paltry staff of the forest department to continuously keep a watch on debris mafia which brings the construction from Mumbai and many parts of MMR to dump on mangroves here in Navi Mumbai, Kumar said.
Tidal waters will swallow Vashi if the mangroves are not conserved, Kumar, who launched a campaign #Saveourmangroves, warned.
Nandakumar Pawar of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishthan described the demolition as merely symbolic since much larger sharks are escaping the law in places such as Uran. The Forest department needs to be equipped with much larger machinery and resources to check mangrove destroyers, he said.
Kharghar-based activist Nareshchandra Singh argued that despite the presence of CCTV cameras, debris dumping on wetlands and mangroves continues in the node. He asked: “Are these cameras merely ornamental?”
Pawar pointed out that the High Court-appointed mangrove committee has asked all district authorities to check these crimes, yet there is no action.
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