Wetlands being eradicated in Mumbai for parking lots
The wetlands along the coastal belts situated around Mumbai are being eradicated only to make way for development. This came into light as the Maharashtra forest development informed the Bombay High Court last day. This is a serious damage to the environmental scenario. Protest had been previously raised against the eradication of these wetlands.
The court during the hearing of a PIL by the NGO Vanashakti in March had banned all the development activities on the wetlands and had instructed the chief conservator of the forests which is the mangrove cell. The mangrove cell was directed to look so that the destruction process do not continues but even after this the eradication process went on.
The damning report by Vasudevan that was submitted last week has confirmed that the destruction of these wetlands continued even after the ban was issued from the court. The ecologically significant wetlands around Mumbai are being claimed for construction of parking lots and real estate projects. This destruction of wetlands needs to be stopped at urgent in order to save these wetlands in and around Mumbai. The court will further look into the matter before its statement.
Source: The Times of India
