Mumbai, April 3: Calling the proposed felling of 45,000 mangroves for the Versova-Bhayandar Link Road (Coastal Road North) “staggering”, former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay Oka said an independent assessment of the project could have reduced the ecological damage.
Justice Oka, known for his landmark 2018 ruling that treated mangroves as part of citizens’ fundamental rights, said courts could have insisted on deeper, independent scrutiny before permitting such large-scale diversion.
Call for independent ecological assessment
He was speaking at the 45th JP Memorial Lecture organised by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in Mumbai recently. “Had there been an independent assessment, the number of mangroves to be cut could have been brought down,” he added.
Controversy over mangrove cutting
Oka’s statements come at a time when the BMC has started cutting the surface-level mangroves for the Coastal Road North, even before the final Stage II approval.
Last month, environment NGO Vanashakti had also approached the Supreme Court against the 45,000 mangrove cutting; however, the apex court refused to intervene in the Bombay High Court judgement. The High Court last year granted permission to the BMC to cut large-scale mangroves; however, it called for compensatory plantations.
Debate on compensatory afforestation
Responding to a query from NatConnect Foundation on compensatory afforestation, Justice Oka said plantation must ideally be carried out in the same ecological zone where the loss occurs.
Current practices allowing plantations in distant districts such as Jalna or Chandrapur fail to replace the specific coastal functions of mangroves, the questioner said, underscoring the limits of compensation.
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In its representation, NatConnect said it was not opposed to infrastructure development but argued that the destruction of mangroves — critical natural buffers — could expose Mumbai to heightened flood risks, coastal erosion and climate shocks.
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