Green groups have welcomed the Union government’s new-found love for mangroves and wetlands, but cautioned against environmental destruction under the guise of infrastructure development.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed on Wednesday in the union Budget a scheme to preserve mangroves. She said that the Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitat and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) should be taken up for mangroves plantation wherever feasible.