On Saturday, this paper carried a front page story about how mangroves in the Western suburbs are being steadily eroded because household debris is being piled on to them. Mangroves which are meant to protect the coast have now sadly and shockingly become a garbage bin for rubbish collected from homes in the vicinity.

This is adding salt to environmentalists’ wounds, if one may call it so. For years now, we have read reports about how environmentalists are waging a desperate battle to keep mangroves alive in the city. Sometimes, it is the builder’s bulldozer and at other times, it is encroachment of another kind, but mangroves are at the peril of what is euphemistically termed ‘development’ in this city.