Residents of Versova, who have been continuously raising the issue of systematic destruction of mangroves over the years by bungalow owners at SVP Nagar, are elated that Kapil Sharma's case has finally ensured that the officials wake up from their slumber.
On Monday, a team of officials from the State Mangrove Cell headed by Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Makarand Ghotge, visited the site and surveyed the violations carried out by not only Sharma but also by several other bungalow owners in that stretch.
The surveying team found several violations including dumping in the mangroves area and are preparing a detailed report. "As per our survey conducted there are no violations in the notified forest area and the land belonging to MHADA. However, there seems to be CRZ violations. All the information collected during the site visit will be examined and even old satellite maps will be studied. As per the findings, and if there are violations, action will be taken according to law," informed N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forest (CCF) and head of State Mangrove Cell.
Sources claimed that there are high chances that a lot of violations could be found as it was extremely obvious during the survey that there were extensions made. Apart from that there were several evidences that mangroves and wetlands were being reclaimed by dumping.
A local resident of Versova said that violations pertaining to wetlands and mangroves were extremely common as a few months back several locals from the neighbourhood as well as environment activists had come together to protest against Jankidevi School for laying paver blocks and concrete within 50 metres of mangroves.
Another activist who has been living near SVP Nagar said that they were delighted that now a lot of violations and violators will be brought to book for destroying mangroves. "We have been fighting against the rampant destruction of mangroves since 2005 but nothing was done and the dumping of debris continued as most bungalows made extensions. Now that the matter has escalated, we hope authorities take stringent action against violators," said the activist.
Meanwhile, Stalin D, director projects of Vanashakti NGO which has been fighting a legal case against the state for wetland destruction, said that the authorities are pretending to react to this episode because Kapil is soft and a convenient target. "In fact, Sharma has inadvertently earned the wrath of BMC and highlighted the issue of mangrove destruction. This destruction, though important to be acted upon, is not even a miniscule fraction of the damage to mangroves that has been going on across Mumbai and adjoining regions, which has been conveniently ignored by the same authorities," he said adding that this was the 'system's' way of reacting to bribery.
