Mumbai civic body, mangrove cell face legal heat over coastal road permissions

Environmentalist Stalin D from NGO Vanashakti has issued a legal notice to the Mangrove Cell and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC over permissions granted for mangrove cutting for the VersovaBhayandar Coastal Road project The project work he claims was allowed despite the absence of mandatory clearancesStalin D issued a legal notice on February 3 claiming the sanction violates Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act 1980 and the Bombay High Court order dated December 12 2025 Stalin D has sent the email to the Principal Secretary Forest Mangrove Cell Principal Secretary of the Environment Department municipal commissioner and Secretary of the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change requesting work be stopped and issues with the mitigation measures be rectifiedThe activist alleged work is being done without necessary permissionsldquoAll of you are parties to the permissions and work undertaken for the coastal road project There are news reports that state permission for tree felling has been given We wish to inform you about the irregularitiesillegalitiesrdquo read Stalin Drsquos noticeHe alleged that work within mangrove areas has progressed substantially on the ground ldquoI visited the site at Malad Creek in Malwani and was shocked to see a kilometrelong road already made This work cannot and could not have been done after the order of the Bombay High Court passed in December It is very evident that the court orders were taken for granted and work undertaken without permissionsrdquo said Stalin DFurther he alleged that Phase 2 permissions for the project have not been obtained to date ldquoEven if one were to consider the fact that an exception has been made for a linear project work of construction cannot commence without the final clearance Why was the high court not informed that the project lacked necessary clearances and also fulfilment of the conditions under the Forest Conservation Act while seeking permission from the court Further the conditions for linear projects also mention that land admeasuring three times the size of the land being diverted for the project must be afforested and transferred in the name of the forest department and given lsquoreserve forestsrsquo statusrdquo Stalin D saidThe dugup area near Malad Creek at MalvaniAccording to Stalin D the land being shown as compensation happens to be in Survey No 342 in Vihirgaon near Tadoba in Chandrapur district In his email to authorities he also attached the 7x12 extract of the site and alleged that the said land is already in the forest departmentrsquos name earmarked for firewood and grazing ldquoHow will the saplings survive and how will the trees on the land be protected Isnrsquot this an abuse of the process of lawrdquo he questionedThe other site in Bhayandar where one lakh saplings are to be planted also bears Survey No 342 ldquoThe site at Bhayandar has been afforested by the Mangrove cell in 2022 Satellite imagery confirms thisThere is hardly any space left for plantation Further land records show the site is jointly owned by the salt department state forest department and the MiraBhayander Municipal Corporation MBMCAreas under MBMC seem to be marshesintertidal mudflats next to the creek This area is available for plantation but the land is also sought by MBMC to develop a of a waterfront How will mangroves be protected The mitigation steps are an eyewashrdquo Stalin D saidPoints raised by Stalin DStalin D environmentalistgtgt Mangroves are coastal forests how does their ecosystem get compensated for by planting trees in Chandrapur in mountainous regionsgtgt Is there no land available along the Mumbai or Mumbai Metropolitan Region coast that can compensate for the loss of the coastal forestsgtgt Why is there such a lack of application of mind and scientific approach in the process of undertaking these projectsgtgt Please share details of the land parcels surveyed along the Mumbai shoreline before a decision was taken to move to Palghar and ChandrapurlsquoMaking false claimsrsquoldquoThe forest department claims work at Malwani is only for a sewage treatment plant but the photographs from the site clearly suggest otherwise In any case the forest department could not have given any approval for cutting mangroves without StageII clearance The BMC alone is responsible for the loss of nearly 16 lakh mangroves and the pace at which mangroves are being destroyed Mumbai should be worried that little will be left of its coastal forestsrdquo said Stalin D