Around 500 mangroves were killed as a result of illegal bund construction

The Navi Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit’s Range Forest Officer has sent a letter to the Panvel revenue Sub-Divisional Officer stating that 400-500 mangroves have been killed in Kharghar along the Sion-Panvel highway due to an illegally constructed cement bag embankment, taking seriously the NGO NatConnect Foundation’s complaint. The dumping of waste marble by approximately 70–80 marble shops located near the mangrove zone, as well as an equal number of illegal hutments that have encroached upon pavements and inside the ecologically sensitive area, is causing mangrove destruction at Roadpali in the Kalamboli node.

The revenue department has filed a First Information Report (FIR) under the Environment Protection Act against an unidentified group for destroying over ten mangroves in the Kamothe node by erecting an illegal bund that prevented tidal waves from entering vital marine plants. In a letter to the SDO, SL Manijare, the Range Forest Officer of the Navi Mumbai Mangrove Conservation Unit, requested that action be taken to address the environmental destruction affected by mangrove destruction in the Kharghar and Kalamboli nodes. A revenue department team went to Kharghar in Sector-10 for inspection on Thursday, but their vehicle became stuck in the slush. “No FIR was filed at Kharghar police station because the inspection could not be completed.” “However, we will return for inspection,” a revenue official stated.

According to RFO Manjare’s letter, Rajesh Patil of Kopra Village built a bund out of cement bags and blocked the intertidal flow. As a result, between 400 and 500 mangroves were discovered to be dead. Save the Kharghar Wetlands and Hills Group, “Nareshchandra Singh, a member of the Save the Kharghar Wetlands and Hills Group, explained.
RFO Manjare’s mention of mangrove killing is only the tip of the iceberg. In Sector-10, Kharghar alone, 13 hectares of dense mangrove zone are under constant threat of destruction. “