Navi Mumbai: Revenue department of Uran transfer 195 hectares of mangroves to forest department

Nearly 195 hectares of mangrove area under the revenue department’s jurisdiction in Uran will be handed over to the Forest Department for conservation as per the Bombay High Court order to treat marine flora as protected forests.

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

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

Welcoming the development, NatConnect Foundation Director BN Kumar said that the mangroves under Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone (NMSEZ), of which CIDCO is a 26% stakeholder, are yet to be accounted for. The delay in transferring this area of coastal vegetation is giving an opportunity for rampant destruction, he said, adding that most of the 1,250ha of NMSEZ is either a mangrove zone or under wetlands.

In 2015, the Revenue Department handed over 25ha to the Forest Department, and a notification was issued for transferring 42ha in February this year, besides another 1,100ha in July. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) also handed over 814ha of mangroves.

Officials said over 300ha of mangrove area, mostly in non-irrigated farmlands, are yet to be considered by CIDCO. These are all under dispute with the local farmers.

Meanwhile, Nandakumar Pawar of Sagarshakti, the marine division of non-profit Vanashakti, said that JNPT has still retained about 100ha of mangrove land that must be handed over to the Forest Department urgently.