Mumbai’s mangroves under threat as city pushes ahead with major infrastructure projects
An upcoming 26km coastal road in India’s financial capital is expected to affect about 45,000 mangrove trees, raising concerns over the loss of a natural defence against flooding and climate change.
Mangrove forests in Mumbai help protect the city’s coastline.
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MUMBAI: Every monsoon season, heavy rains inundate parts of Mumbai, flooding roads and disrupting daily life across India’s financial capital.
Decades of rapid urbanisation have outpaced improvements to the city’s drainage infrastructure, while its low-lying coastal location leaves it vulnerable to storm surges and rising sea levels.
For conservationists, the city’s mangrove forests are a critical part of its natural coastal defences.
They grow along tropical coastlines, where their dense root systems absorb wave energy and stabilise shorelines.
“Mumbai is an island city. It is created out of reclaimed land, so the sea is always pushing in. You’re always under attack and the land is getting eroded,” said Stalin Dayanand, director of environmental group Vanashakti.
“Mangroves form the natural defence against these surges and tidal inundations. Climate change, when the sea level increases, the pressure of the sea also increases. So these are the things that stand in the way of destruction,” he added.
This natural asset has come under renewed pressure as Mumbai embarks on a series of major infrastructure projects aimed at improving connectivity and easing congestion across the city.
One of the most significant is a new 26km coastal road.
Authorities say the project will affect about 45,000 mangrove trees, prompting concern among residents and environmental groups who warn that removing them would leave the city more exposed to high tides and other coastal hazards.
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COMPENSATORY PLANTING
The Bombay High Court has ordered the planting of about 174,000 mangrove trees to compensate for those affected by the project, including at the site of the new highway once construction is complete.
State officials say they are working to balance conservation with the city’s infrastructure needs.
The Maharashtra government, which oversees Mumbai, established a dedicated Mangrove Cell in 2012 to protect, conserve and manage the state’s mangrove forests.
The unit carries out activities including restoring degraded mangrove areas, conducting patrols to prevent encroachment and running public awareness programmes.
“The planning authority … has promised to plant three to five times the mangroves that are going to be cut. So in the end, the net-net result is going to be an increase in the mangrove cover of the city and the state, which is sustainable development,” said Ameet Satam, a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
A MATURE FOREST TAKES DECADES
But critics argue that replacing a mature mangrove forest takes years, if not decades.
In the meantime, wildlife habitats may be lost and fishing communities could see their livelihoods affected.
Dayanand, who has fought several legal battles to protect Mumbai’s mangroves, believes infrastructure projects can be designed to minimise environmental damage.
“We have the technology. No project needs to go through the forest. You can go above them, you can go under them. These options are there. It costs a little more money, but that’s okay.”
Estimates suggest around 40 per cent of Mumbai’s mangroves were lost between 1991 and 2001 as urbanisation accelerated.
But experts say protecting mangroves alone will not solve Mumbai’s flooding problems.
As climate change brings heavier rainfall and rising sea levels, they say mangrove conservation must be accompanied by upgraded drainage systems, better urban planning and other climate adaptation measures.
Source: CNA/mp(oc)
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