TOI : Andheri mangroves under attack : Oct 25,2007

Andheri mangroves under attack
Residents Submit Complaint, Cops Pass The Buck To BMC Despite HC Order
Bharati Dubey | TNN

Mumbai: Residents of Andheri’s Lokhandwala Complex are finding themselves at odds with the authorities in their attempt to check the ongoing destruction of mangroves in coastal areas behind their housing societies.

    In a complaint letter to the Oshiwara police station on Wednesday, the residents said cutting of trees, dumping of garbage and construction within the notified Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) had damaged the mangrove cover in their neighbourhood. Some of the residents told TOI that the police, however, refused to intervene in the matter or register a complaint.

    Residents of Nav Karan, Springfields, Silver Springs and Samarth Krupa said bulldozers were being blatantly used to destroy mangroves lining the stretch from the Lokhandwala creek to the bridge near Joggers’ Park.

    One of the residents said, “Construction activity has started in the corner a plot behind Nav Karan and Samarth Krupa. This plot comes within 50 metres around the Lokhandwala mangrove forest making the activity illegal as per a Bombay high court ruling which prohibits any construction within 50 metres of mangrove forests.’’

    Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi, a well-known film-maker and resident of Springfields, who is among the complainants, said he had visited the police station on Tuesday but found the personnel unhelpful. “Despite a court receiver board’s order, we can see construction and dumping on the ground. But the police behaved as if we were harassing them and asked us to contact the BMC as it was in their jurisdiction.” Vaseem Dehlvi, a documentary film-maker and resident of Nav Karan, too said “the police was not co-operative and told us to check with the BMC. But as per the court ruling, it is the job of the police to stop people from destroying mangroves.’’

    According to the HC judgment (April 12, 2005), the state must not allow any development activity along the coast if it involves the destruction of mangroves. For this purpose, the police and civic officials are expected to cooperate.

    Senior police inspector of Oshiwara police station Kiran Sonone said, “This is just one application. We get 250 such applications every day. Once the application is given, officers look into the matter. How are residents so sure that these are mangroves? If we find that these are mangroves, we will definitely take action.’’

GOING, GOING, GONE: According to residents of Andheri’s Lokhandwala Complex, mangroves were being systematically destroyed to make way for new constructions in their neighbourhood

Publication:Times Of India Mumbai; Date:Oct 25, 2007; Section:Times City; Page Number:3

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