Mumbai: Dharavi slums eating into mangrove forest, and no one knows how

Itrsquos no secret that mangroves have been vanishing all over the city ndash after all the BMC has done little to protect these precious green lungs In fact the toothless civic body isnrsquot even able to stop land sharks from gobbling up the mangroves at its own doorstep in Dharavi where slums have wiped out 1200 sq m of the forest over the past yearmidday visited the spot and also took aerial pictures that clearly show how the illegal hutments are creeping in on the mangrove cover at Dharavi PicsSameer MarkandeThe mangrove patch in Dharavi is not just a critical habitat for several species but is also a crucial protective barrier from flash floods during heavy rainfall as the trees and the swamp act like a sponge and soak the overflow of waterHowever these forests slowly began to disappear because of rampant encroachment prompting the state to set up the Mangrove Cell in 2012Also Read Mumbai NCP leader booked for illegal construction near Versova mangrove forestBut land grabbers donrsquot seem to fear the authorities at all In fact over the past 56 years they have gobbled up at least half an acre of mangrove trees in Dharavi alone even though the Mangrove Cellrsquos office is barely 3 km away On its part the state is either not bothered or simply does not have the authority to do anything about this uncontrolled destructionFresh encroachmentThe Dharavi mangrove forest is not easily accessible by road and the extent of encroachment can only be seen clearly from highrises of which there arenrsquot many in the area However the damage is visible from buildings in BandraKurla Complex BKC from where one of the officegoers alerted midday about new illegal structures that have mushroomed there recentlyldquoMy office is right next to the Mithi river in BKC and we have an aerial view of the mangrove forest Over the last two years I have seen at least 50 new hutments that have cropped up there What is shocking is that the Mangrove Cellrsquos office is close by but they seem least interested in the forestrdquo said the sourcemidday visited the spot and also took some aerial photographs that show how the illegal hutments are creeping in on the mangrove forest behind Peela Bangla Yellow BungalowToothless responseGreen activists allege that this encroachment has been going on for years and if officials had taken steps in the beginning itself they could have put an end to this menace long ago But when midday spoke to officials from the cell they said that they do not have the power to take action if the mangrove patch is not under their jurisdiction which defeats the entire purpose of the Mangrove CellldquoIt is true that the new encroachment has come up is in an area with mangrove cover but nothing could be done about it because we donrsquot have the staff or the jurisdictionrdquo said one staffer requesting anonymityRead Story Mumbai Mangroves made way for parking space say angry localsThe cell does not have the power to act against encroachment in mangrove patches that are on private land or under another authority like the Revenue department midday has published reports on many such instances where the cell has passed the buck on to the tehsildar or collector who rarely take action see boxActivists have now pointed at the flaw in this arrangement of jurisdiction and demand that the government should simply bring all mangrove patches under the jurisdiction of one agency