In a good move towards mangrove conservation, JNPT is handing over about 900 hectares of forest cover — equivalent to over half the size of Aarey Milk Colony — to the Forest Department.

On February 12, additional principal chief conservator of forest (mangrove cell) had written to the chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for the transfer of the mangrove forest. The letter was based on a 2018 Bombay High Court order directing the state to declare “mangroves on government land as reserved protected forest” and hand them over to the forest department”. The HC had, however, stated that the transfer would be done within three months from issuance of the final order dated September 17, 2018.