Environmentalists say the activity that has resumed is illegal as an HC-appointed panel and state govt have both halted construction there
NGO NatConnect Foundation has moved the HC committee and the state government to stop the landfill
Environmentalists have alleged that once again illegal landfill on wetlands and mangroves has begun under Navi Mumbai SEZ in Uran, along Bhendkhal Road. It seems some contractors are taking advantage of the COVID-19 restrictions to carry out the land filling. The land filling is being done for the second time in less than a year.
The Bombay High Court-appointed Mangrove and Wetlands Committee had earlier halted the landfill by NMSEZ at Pagote and Bhendkhal. Environmentalists claim that Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray had ordered the stopping of construction at Panje wetland in the project.
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B N Kumar, director of NGO NatConnect Foundation, said he has moved the HC committee and the state government to stop the landfill forthwith. “We have also sought details of permissions, if any, granted to NMSEZ for the landfill,” Kumar said, and pointed out that such construction requires coastal zone clearances. The high court has explicitly banned killing of mangroves. The halting of construction by the HC panel and the government clearly shows the NMSEZ landfill is illegal, NatConnect said.
According to Dilip Koli of the traditional fishing community association Paramparik Machhimar Bachao Kruti Samiti, "Scores of dumpers carry earth and debris to dump on mangroves and water bodies and quietly level the landfill during the night, while presenting a ‘quiet scene’ during the daytime."
The landfill is reminiscent of the burial of the Pagote mangrove zone and Bhendkhal wetland, said Nandakumar Pawar, head of NGO Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishthan. “The local contractors appointed by NMSEZ do the landfill for just a few bucks and ignore the long-term environmental impact. This obviously suits the project proponents’ purpose." Pawar said.
Locals suffering
He also pointed out that people are already suffering due to the recurring unseasonal floods caused by the reckless, rampant landfilling, forcing tidal waters to inundate villages and paddy fields. According to green activists, the sad part of the landfill racket is that the government’s urban planning agency CIDCO is a 26% partner in NMSEZ.
"CIDCO officials throw up their hands when it comes to checking the landfill on the plea that the lands have been handed over to a private agency long ago." According to the minutes of the Mangrove Committee meetings, NGO NatConnect also pointed out that the forest department has been unable to check the destruction of thousands of mangroves in Uran region, as sea plants are yet to be declared as reserved forest, despite the government and mangrove committee orders. “While the official agencies remain helpless, it is nature that has become a victim,” Kumar said.
The NMSEZ official was unavailable for comment.
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