Last of the mangroves are Mumbai's new dumping grounds

On first thoughts you may view them as your saviours as they swing by your place collect any garbage and debris that you might want to part with pack them into their handpulled carts and take the load off your hands quite literally and all for a meagre fee The handpulled carts can be seen in suburbs like Bandra Khar and Santacruz As soon as they are called the garbagecollectors show up at the given address The debris is packed into bags loaded onto the carts and pulled to the nearest seashore where it is dumped all for Rs 20003000 PicsAmit Jadhav But what you might not know is that these garbage collectors are slowly but surely killing the only things that stand between you and the next tsunami the last of the cityrsquos mangroves MiD DAYrsquos investigations have exposed an unsettling chain of disposal in which garbage and debris collected from suburban homes and construction sites are being dumped brazenly on the few remaining tracts of mangrove lining the cityrsquos coastline destroying them The law of the land says that all dumping should be done outside the city limits after due permission is taken from the BMCrsquos environment department With utter disregard for these rules the mangroves are being burnt razed or unceremoniously dumped upon Dial a lsquodumperrsquo In the lanes and bylanes stretching from Bandra to Santacruz more than 16 handcarts can be seen doing the rounds every day driven by men and women who are always on the lookout for spots from where they can carry back bags full of garbage and debris On any given day you can find them scouring the streets near Turner Road junction Bandra Khar Danda and Gazdar Bandh in Santacruz just to name a few Anil Joseph and Nicholas Almeida at the decimated tracts of mangroves that have been burnt chopped off or dumped upon to make way for debris collected from the suburbs PicsAmit Jadhav To drive away a cartful of debris or residential refuse they charge between Rs 20003000 Pocketing the money they wind their way to the nearest coastal opening and dump the refuse in the mangroves swamps lining the shore Bandra Reclamation is a popular dumping spot Anil Joseph chairperson of Perry Road Residentrsquos Association who first identified this lsquomafiarsquo said ldquoAbout six months ago when I was traveling home I saw these handcarts full of debris packed in bags I stopped the men who were pulling them and asked them where they were taking the stuff They replied that they were going to dump it near the sea I was shocked and went going to areas like Bandra Reclamation Chimbai Khar Danda and Santacruz to discover that debris was being dumped on the mangroves killing them instantly I had complained to officials at Chimbai after which they cleared the area but now it has started againrdquo Burning bushes The part of Bandra Reclamation below the flyover that meets Mahim creek is a sprawling wasteland where garbage has been dumped on the mangroves as well as the roads The bushes have also been burnt Nicholas Almeida of Watchdog Foundation said ldquoThis is horrible How can they just burn mangroves in broad daylight Where are the officials Mangroves are here to protect us and yet we are killing themrdquo Even at Chimbai and Khar Danda vast amounts of debris have been dumped unceremoniously on the mangroves Large tracts of the vegetation have been lopped off to make way for the dumping grounds MiD DAY paid a visit to the spot to find only the residual stalks of mangroves that have been lopped off recently in blatant indifference to a signboard that warns criminal action against those who damaged the mangroves Earlier this mafia used to operate under the cover of darkness bringing the debris in huge trucks But the dumping now continues through the day with brazen dumpers being seen pulling in in broad daylight to discard the materials they have collected MiD DAY found two women carrying debris and stopped them Asked what they were doing one of them replied ldquoHum log pura area se debris uthate hai Jitna hoga sab leke jayega We pick up debris from the whole area and we will take it all with usrdquo They introduced themselves as banjaras and explained ldquoA person has hired us to do this job We dump this debris on the sea anywhere between Bandra and Santacruz wherever the contractor tells usrdquo She readily shared her number and urged this reporter to ring her saying ldquoWe are available here from morning till evening We donrsquot operate at night We roam around the area to collect debris for moneyrdquo The conversation ended abruptly when the two women were accosted by a new client who offered them a bike ride to a spot on Carter Road from where they were to collect debris Joseph said ldquoThis practice should be stopped immediately and the area should immediately be cleared and cleaned to let the mangroves grow In fact the scheme should start immediately If the BMC takes action their own revenue will grow and these people will be forced to dump debris at proper places outside the city saving our mangrovesrdquo Officialspeak A senior level BMC officer said ldquoThe executive engineer of the environment department at the zonal level is vested with the responsibility to collect the debris and dump it outside the city But that is not donerdquo Assistant Commissioner Hwest ward Prashant Sapkale said ldquoWe have received and we are taking action on the same I have fined these people Rs 20000 three timesrdquo Expertspeak Jagdish Gandhi an activist fighting for mangrove protection said ldquoThis is cruelty on the very mangroves that protect us This is a systematic joint operation to completely destroy the mangroves They first dump on the vegetation to kill it They then prove that nothing can grow on the land and sell them to the buildersrsquo lobby The rates for this land are usually extremely high as it is seafacing The tsunamis that swept south India and Japan destroyed all the exposed areas but the mangroves did not move an inch that is the power of mangroves A day will come when Mumbai will also be struck by such floods mangroves are natural walls that protect usrdquo Activist and advocate Godfrey Pimenta said ldquoMangroves are declared as protected forests No development is allowed within the 50 metres of the mangroves According to Section 15 of the Environment protection Act 1986 anybody can file a complaint with the police against any party that violates sections of the Act The punishment is of five years and a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh and the offence is nonbailablerdquo Voices It is extremely shocking if they are dumping debris near the mangroves This will in turn cause us harm Sanchita Kadam student There are bodies formed specifically to safeguard mangroves and they should take immediate action We should not wait for another July 26 deluge to take place Swarali Deshpande professional Authorities should make the common man and even officials aware of the value of mangroves so that something is done to curb this practice There are many who do not know what mangroves are meant for Satyajit Yelonde professional Immediate action should be taken against the mafia that is running this racket They should clean the mangroves Sonal Palande professional