Under pressure to conserve mangroves, JNPT drops Eco Park project

Under pressure to hand over mangroves in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) jurisdiction to the Maharashtra Forest Department for conservation, the country’s largest container port has dropped the idea of building a mangrove park at Belpada in Uran, the official response to an RTI application shows.

The JNPT had proposed the Mangrove Park in consultation with the State Mangrove Cell which in turn directed the port to the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM).

The port authorities had even proposed an MoU with FDCM.

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JNPT itself informed Navi Mumbai-based NatConnect Foundation in its response to an RTI query from the latter that the Mangrove EcoPark feasibility was being studied in consultation with the FDCM.

Environmentalists, however, opposed the JNPT project on the ground that the port itself has been destroying mangroves and wetlands and that it should leave the sea forests alone. In fact, JNPT has been fined Rs one lakh by the Forest Department for killing 4,500 mangroves in its container terminal-IV project. In fact, NatConnect asked FDCM: “Is the Eco Park on buried wetland and mangrove zone justified?”

NatConnect and Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan have been complaining to the government that JNPT has also been burying mangroves for its SEZ project and presented pictures of how lush green zones have been converted into virtual desert lands. Moreover, the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) has confirmed in its RTI response to NatConnect that the JNPT SEZ does not have CRZ clearance.

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“It is in this backdrop that we wanted to know the details of the Mangrove EcoPark,” said NatConnect Director B N Kumar who moved to the Forest Department seeking details of the project.

Kumar said they wanted to know if the Eco Park project is viable after the destruction of thousands of mangroves and vast stretches of wetlands, including the one at Belpada and Sawarkhar.

The FDCM’s Thane divisional office has responded saying that the mangrove park idea has not been approved and hence no further information was available.

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FDCM also appended a letter from the JNPT that the port authorities have decided not to enter into an MoU for the Mangrove Park as the process of handing over all mangroves under it to the Forest Department has started.

On a query from Mangrove Cell for handing over the mangroves as per the Bombay High Court judgement of September 2018 to protect all mangrove forests, JNPT said it would transfer the sea plants after a high-resolution mapping by Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC).

Kumar has expressed his happiness that all mangroves under JNPT would now be conserved.

Nandakumar Pawar of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan said JNPT must be made accountable for the environmental destruction, particularly the mangroves and mudflats in Uran, that has impacted the livelihoods of the fishing community.

Belpada is located in the southwest direction of the proposed NMIA adjacent to Speedy Services container yard, and next to JNPT Toll Plaza, the Baseline Survey of Birds at the Proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport by BNHS shows.