2,200 hectares of mangroves in Uran near Mumbai to be protected

As much as 195 hectares of mangroves under the revenue department’s jurisdiction in Uran in Raigad district across Mumbai harbour will be handed over to the Forest Department for conservation as per the Bombay High Court judgement to treat the sea plants as protected forest.

With this the total area of mangroves to be conserved in Uran swells to over 2,200 hectares – equal to the area of about 220 Azad Maidans - Uran Range Forest Officer Nathuram Kokare said.

A gazette order dated September 28 facilitates the fresh transfer of 195 ha of mangroves in 17 villages of Uran Taluka of Raigad district under section 4 of the Indian Forest Act.

Welcoming the process, NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar said the mangroves under NMSEZ of which CIDCO is a 26 per cent stakeholder is yet to be accounted for. The delay in transferring these sea plants is giving an opportunity for rampant destruction, he said. Most of the 1,250 hectares of NMSEZ is either a mangrove zone or under wetlands, he said in a press statement.

Earlier, the Revenue Department handed over 25 hectares to the Forest Department in 2015 and notification was issued for transferring 42 hectares in February this year and 1100 hectares in July, officials said. In addition, JNPT handed over 814 hectares of mangroves.

Officials said as much as 300 hectares of mangroves, grown mostly on unirrigated farmlands, are yet to be taken into account by CIDCO. These are all under dispute with the local farmers.

Meanwhile, Nandakumar Pawar of Sagarshakti, the marine division of Vanashakti, said JNPT also has kept about 100 hectares of mangroves with it. This must be handed over to the Forest Department, he said.