Navi Mumbai: In a setback to Maharashtra Government's efforts to aggressively protect mangroves from being destroyed by vested interests, the Union government has turned down the state's request for delegating the powers under the Environment Protection Act (EPA) 1986 to the Forest Department to deal with coastal regulation zone (CRZ) offences.
The Union government has instead asked Maharashtra to strengthen its Coastal Zone Management Authority (CZMA) which, it said, is empowered “to take appropriate steps” under the EPA, information obtained under the RTI Act by NatConnect Foundation shows.
Aaditya Thackeray's plea to MOEFCC
The EPA empowers only the environment secretary, the district collector, the pollution control board and the sub-divisional officer (SDO) to file cases for violations, the then State Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray said in his letter of request to the MOEFCC.
Thackeray, therefore, pleaded for empowering the Forest Department with the authority to file cases under the EPA. But Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and his predecessor Prakash Javadekar have in identical but separate letters turned down the plea and said “multiple authorities enforcing one statute is likely to increase compliance burden as well as harassment for the public”.
The environment ministry shared the letters with NatConnect director BN Kumar who had filed the RTI application seeking to know the status of Thackeray's request.
Environmentalists displeased
Describing the response as “unfortunate” and politically motivated, Kumar said the Union Ministers rejection was based on a wrong premise that the CZMAs are empowered under the EPA.
On the contrary, Kumar said, MCZMA member secretary Narendra Toke made it very clear to NatConnect during hearing of the NGO’s appeals under the RTI Act that the Authority is not an enforcing agency, but a monitoring one.
MCZMA merely passed on directions to the district coastal zone committees on a series of complaints relating CRZ and mangrove violations filed by NatConnect and Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan. The district committees are yet to act, despite MCZMA reminders, which the NGOs regretted.
The Bombay High Court had mandated way back in September 2018 that all mangroves in the State must be handed over to the Forest Department to be protected under the Forest Act.
Section 19 of the EPA clearly states that no court shall take cognizance of any offence under this Act except on a complaint made by the Union Government or any authority or officer authorised on the behalf of the government, Kumar pointed out.
