The Bombay High Court on Tuesday sounded an alarm over Mumbai's shrinking mangrove cover, warning that if the city's green cover keeps disappearing at this pace, residents may soon have to carry oxygen cylinders just to breathe. The remark came from a bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad while hearing a petition filed by the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited, or MSETCL.
Why MSETCL wanted to fell 847 mangrove trees
MSETCL had approached the court seeking permission to cut down 847 mangrove trees to lay a 132 KV transmission line between Dahanu and Ambesari in Palghar district, a stretch needed for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project. According to the petition, the proposed 13.06 kilometre long transmission line requires a change in land use for 3.35 hectares of forest land, of which 1.9656 hectares is mangrove forest. The bench made clear that its real worry was not the felling itself but whether authorities actually ensure that the replacement saplings survive once they are planted.
Court says officials replant only for the photograph
The judges did not hold back while pulling up the authorities over how compensatory plantation is handled in practice. The bench observed that the real problem is that departments do not follow through on replanting, and that whatever saplings are planted eventually start dying. It said officials merely click photographs to show that plantation work has been carried out, but never go back afterwards to check whether those saplings are still alive. In the same breath, the bench noted that Mumbai already faces such an acute oxygen shortage that the day is not far when people will have to walk around carrying oxygen cylinders simply to breathe.
Bench questions plan to plant trees elsewhere
The bench also questioned the company's proposal to carry out compensatory plantation outside the affected area as a way of offsetting the felled mangroves. It observed that planting saplings in a place that already has plenty of trees serves little purpose, since it does nothing for the specific area where the trees are actually being cut. According to the court, this amounts to a straightforward loss for the very area losing its trees. Advocate General Milind Sathe, appearing for the state, assured the bench that instead of hunting for land elsewhere, the government would identify degraded forest land within the same area and carry out plantation there. He told the court that doing so would take some time.
Court nod mandatory since a 2018 order
The Bombay High Court had, back in 2018, imposed a complete ban on the felling of mangrove trees without its permission. Since then, every public infrastructure project involving mangrove felling has needed the court's clearance, which is why MSETCL had to seek approval for the transmission line linked to the bullet train project as well. The High Court has now reserved its verdict on the petition, meaning it will only become clear in the coming days whether the transmission line in Palghar goes ahead, and if it does, what conditions will be set for compensating the loss of mangroves.
