Greens win back some lost ground, seek coal-free port - The ...
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Greens win back some lost ground, seek coal-free port
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MUMBAI: While a scraggly, dead tree sticks out of the fence encircling
lethal mountains of imported coal lying open on Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT)
land, elsewhere in the area mangroves destroyed when coal used to be
stored at an adjacent site have been regenerated after the port trust
moved coal out of that spot.
Environmentalists are ecstatic over the revival of the mangroves, but they said the long-term solution to the problem did not lie in shifting coal from one storage site to another but in a complete shutdown of the coal operations of the port trust. "Coal is combustible and toxic, and should not be stored anywhere near human settlements or vegetation," said D Stalin, director-projects at Vanashakti, an organization that works on conservation.
Stalin was instrumental in the rejuvenation of mangroves along a jetty popularly known as Ghaaslet Bunder on port trust land. In 2012, the high court took suo motu cognizance of a report in a daily newspaper on the destruction of mangroves due to coal storage in the area. Simultaneously, Stalin filed an affidavit in court on the matter, countering the claim of coastal zone management authorities that the mangrove destruction was due to boundary walls built by the MbPT that blocked sea water.
Stalin's affidavit insisted that mangroves were being destroyed because of the coal stored in the area and not because of the construction of boundary walls. A report by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which inspected the area on the directions of the high court, confirmed Stalin's claim that coal was responsible for the death of mangroves.
The NEERI report said: "The coal storage and handling in the depot are not being effectively carried out due to which large quantities of coal were also found to be outside the fenced areas and impacted the soil sediment of mangrove regions."
It went on to add that the surviving mangroves adjacent to the coal yard were coated with coal particles, and leaf injury was visible. "If mangrove vegetation is to be restored in this area, it is amply clear that the storage of coking coal should be shifted to a less environmentally sensitive area," wrote N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forests (mangrove cell), who accompanied NEERI during its site visit in 2012.
Stalin said that soon after the NEERI report, MbPT realized it had been cornered and quietly moved the coal out of the storage depot abutting the mangroves before waiting for the high court to pass an order.
Two years on, the mangroves are back. Dense patches of mangroves can be seen amid remains of dead mangroves. "Along with the natural regeneration of mangroves, we even planted mangrove in the area," said Stalin.
Environmentalists are ecstatic over the revival of the mangroves, but they said the long-term solution to the problem did not lie in shifting coal from one storage site to another but in a complete shutdown of the coal operations of the port trust. "Coal is combustible and toxic, and should not be stored anywhere near human settlements or vegetation," said D Stalin, director-projects at Vanashakti, an organization that works on conservation.
Stalin was instrumental in the rejuvenation of mangroves along a jetty popularly known as Ghaaslet Bunder on port trust land. In 2012, the high court took suo motu cognizance of a report in a daily newspaper on the destruction of mangroves due to coal storage in the area. Simultaneously, Stalin filed an affidavit in court on the matter, countering the claim of coastal zone management authorities that the mangrove destruction was due to boundary walls built by the MbPT that blocked sea water.
Stalin's affidavit insisted that mangroves were being destroyed because of the coal stored in the area and not because of the construction of boundary walls. A report by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), which inspected the area on the directions of the high court, confirmed Stalin's claim that coal was responsible for the death of mangroves.
The NEERI report said: "The coal storage and handling in the depot are not being effectively carried out due to which large quantities of coal were also found to be outside the fenced areas and impacted the soil sediment of mangrove regions."
It went on to add that the surviving mangroves adjacent to the coal yard were coated with coal particles, and leaf injury was visible. "If mangrove vegetation is to be restored in this area, it is amply clear that the storage of coking coal should be shifted to a less environmentally sensitive area," wrote N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forests (mangrove cell), who accompanied NEERI during its site visit in 2012.
Stalin said that soon after the NEERI report, MbPT realized it had been cornered and quietly moved the coal out of the storage depot abutting the mangroves before waiting for the high court to pass an order.
Two years on, the mangroves are back. Dense patches of mangroves can be seen amid remains of dead mangroves. "Along with the natural regeneration of mangroves, we even planted mangrove in the area," said Stalin.
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