The state forest department is likely to receive 881 hectare (ha) of mangrove area as reserve forest from the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC). On December 29, 2021, the civic body sent a proposal in this regard to the collector of Palghar district, who had in turn sent it to the state government via the Konkan divisional commissioner.
Over the last two years, after regular meetings with forest department and mangrove cell, more than 11,000 ha of land has been brought under the Indian Forest Act.
Declaring mangroves as reserve forest helps to protect these areas from destruction, as the state can appoint guards for their protection.
Virendra Tiwari, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, said, “Vasai Virar has nearly 1,450 ha of mangrove cover, of which 881 hectare will be handed over to us soon. The VVMC commissioner has sent a proposal to the Palghar collector and this plan is in final stages. We are hoping to get rest of the mangrove areas too.”
“In fact, the VVMC wants to give the entire patch of 1,450 ha to us,” he added.
In April, the state had received 815 ha of mangrove cover from the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has also agreed to hand over 199 ha.
In Panvel, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has prepared a plan to give 1,500 ha of mangrove areas to the forest department. “The transfer another 350 ha to the mangrove protection cell is in the pipeline,” said Tiwari.
Environmentalist D Stalin of NGO Vanashakti said, “It took various agencies like MMRDA, JNPT and CIDCO nearly 16 years after the high court gave an order in this regard. The state sat over hundreds of cases of mangrove destruction, which could have been avoided. Our contempt petition before court has forced the government agencies to hand over the land now.'”
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