National Environmental Engineering Research Institute to inspect Sewri mangroves
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MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Tuesday directed National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to conduct a site inspection of mangroves in the protected Sewri Bay area.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar was suo motu hearing a PIL, taking cognizance of a complaint on destruction of mangroves due to the storage of coking coal used in furnaces by the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT). The Sewri Bay area consists of mudflats, wetlands and mangroves.
NGO Vanashakti has contended that since 2005, MbPT has being storing coking coal/coke at two sites; this has affected over 30 acres of mangroves outlining the east coast of Mumbai. According to its intervention application, the Sewri Bay area falls under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) I and the wetlands have been classified as being of "critical ecological significance" as they support a large number of marine, bird and plant species. It is also a breeding ground for flamingoes. The plea says the storage violates orders passed in 2009 by the HC for the protection of mangroves.
Vanashakti's advocate Snehal Paranjpe argued that due to the large-scale storage, the mangroves were being steadily destroyed. "Coking coal destroys mangroves in two ways. When air-borne, it coats the vegetation of the mangroves and chokes them. It also seeps into the soil with rainwater and destroys the natural salinity,'' said Paranje.
She said coking coal was is highly combustible and needs to be moistened with water. The contaminated water seeps into the mudflats, she added. Also, during high tide, the entire area gets inundated with seawater. "Ironically, there is a board declaring the mangrove park but the mangroves behind it are dead," she said.
MbPT advocate Girish Kulkarni countered the charges, saying storage was not the cause of salinity of water. He blamed the BMC's drains, saying they carried sewerage from various sources and these could contain effluents. "The BMC ought to disclose what the component of the discharge is and from which place (it comes),'' he said.
The BMC advocate opposed him, saying the civic sewerage drains were not discharging industrial effluents. There was a general consensus to get an expert opinion.
The judges, while asking NEERI to inspect both sites, also directed N Vasudevan (state chief conservator of forests, mangroves) to oversee the entire operation. A report has to be submitted by June 7.
The matter has been posted for hearing on June 14.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice Nitin Jamdar was suo motu hearing a PIL, taking cognizance of a complaint on destruction of mangroves due to the storage of coking coal used in furnaces by the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT). The Sewri Bay area consists of mudflats, wetlands and mangroves.
NGO Vanashakti has contended that since 2005, MbPT has being storing coking coal/coke at two sites; this has affected over 30 acres of mangroves outlining the east coast of Mumbai. According to its intervention application, the Sewri Bay area falls under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) I and the wetlands have been classified as being of "critical ecological significance" as they support a large number of marine, bird and plant species. It is also a breeding ground for flamingoes. The plea says the storage violates orders passed in 2009 by the HC for the protection of mangroves.
Vanashakti's advocate Snehal Paranjpe argued that due to the large-scale storage, the mangroves were being steadily destroyed. "Coking coal destroys mangroves in two ways. When air-borne, it coats the vegetation of the mangroves and chokes them. It also seeps into the soil with rainwater and destroys the natural salinity,'' said Paranje.
She said coking coal was is highly combustible and needs to be moistened with water. The contaminated water seeps into the mudflats, she added. Also, during high tide, the entire area gets inundated with seawater. "Ironically, there is a board declaring the mangrove park but the mangroves behind it are dead," she said.
MbPT advocate Girish Kulkarni countered the charges, saying storage was not the cause of salinity of water. He blamed the BMC's drains, saying they carried sewerage from various sources and these could contain effluents. "The BMC ought to disclose what the component of the discharge is and from which place (it comes),'' he said.
The BMC advocate opposed him, saying the civic sewerage drains were not discharging industrial effluents. There was a general consensus to get an expert opinion.
The judges, while asking NEERI to inspect both sites, also directed N Vasudevan (state chief conservator of forests, mangroves) to oversee the entire operation. A report has to be submitted by June 7.
The matter has been posted for hearing on June 14.
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