* Three thousand families in six villages of Pitchavaram district in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, were saved from the tsunami’s wrath by a 4-km stretch of mangrove forests spread over 1,400 hectares
* In Thirunal Thoppu, a fishing village in Tamil Nadu, 172 families were saved by a mangrove cover
* Thanks to its mangrove cover, Point Calimere’s wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu didn’t suffer too much damage when the killer wave struck
IF YOU thought the small bush-like trees that run through Mumbai’s coastline are dispensable occupiers of prime waterfront property, think again.
Stories like the ones above are slowly rising out of the debris and destruction left across South-East Asia by the December 26 killer tsunami.
The tales have only reinforced what environmentalists and scientists across the world have always been saying: Mangrove forests do more than just support life, they save life.
With an intertwined root network that acts like a protective sieve, mangrove forests—which grow in the soft, marshy areas where the sea meets a sweet water body like a creek or estuary—are nature’s frontline defence against tidal upheavals.
Not only do they absorb excess sea water during a storm, they break the momentum of the frenzied waves. What’s more, once broken, the water is splashed in several directions, thus checking the chance of a flood.
With a mere 250-odd acres remaining of the once 3,000-plus acres of mangroves in Mumbai, it’s time we worried.
Who is to blame
Had the tsunami lashed Mumbai instead of Chennai, visualises Deepak Apte of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the damage would have been ‘‘colossal’’.
It’s not only because most of Mumbai sits on reclaimed land or that developmental projects like the Bandra-Worli sealink or the on-anvil Sewri-Nhava Sheva sealink blatantly flout Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
Nor is it only due to the fact that dumping grounds and slums come up so easily on mangroves.
It’s because there’s a ‘‘complete lack of political will’’ to implement the five laws that protect these coastal greens, says environmentalist Vivek Kulkarni.
After all, in a rare show of solidarity at the monsoon session of the Legislative Assembly last year, the then chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Opposition leader Narayan Rane strove to get the CRZ I ruling revoked for Mumbai in order to ‘‘clear up land for development’’.
Moving court
‘‘That’s why we had to go to court,’’ says Shyam Chainani of the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG).
The premier green body recently filed a 172-page Public Interest Litigation (PIL) detailing the mangrove destruction in the city and asked that mangroves—as found in a government-mapped 1997 satellite image—be accorded protected status.
Lashing out at the government’s lackadaisical attitude, the PIL states that ‘‘committees (were) set up to look into the issues of protection and conservation of mangroves and funds were allocated for the same... but no steps have been taken’’.
They call the shots
‘‘Staff shortage’’ is the oft-repeated reason for inaction, recalls Manjunath Hegde of the unIty residents forum, a Versova-based group of residents who got together in April last year to save their ‘‘only green’’ cover from illegal dumping and blossoming slums.
Their efforts galvanised actor Irfaan Khan and Goregaon residents to stop the illegal felling of mangroves opposite InOrbit mall on the Goregaon-Malad Link Road.
Both initiatives feature in the PIL.
Rishi Aggarwal, member of the Save Andheri Versova Environment (SAVE) which has been working to create awareness of the importance of mangroves, sums it up.
‘‘Until people realise the true value of mangroves—that they save lives—these greens are always going to be viewed as a waste of space in space-crunched Mumbai,’’ he says.
Mangrove Magic
Sea Barrier: The intertwined network of mangrove roots stops soil erosion, drains excess sea water and bears the brunt of a rough sea during storms, cyclones, tsunamis
Pollution Check: The roots absorb excess water pollution—including mercury—and ‘lock’ it. When a tree is uprooted, the pollution is released back on land or water
Breeding Grounds:/b> Most aquatic life, including fish and prawns, breed here. Mangroves are also nesting grounds for birds including migratory winged beauties like pink flamingoes and the Steppes Eagle
From CRZ I to CRZ II
* Since mangroves grow only in areas where sea water mixes with fresh water, a barricade or bund is first built to cut the flow of the two tides
* As the plants start to die, they’re uprooted or hacked
* Soil is then dumped on the mangroves to harden the marshy land
* Slums come up
* With slums, the land—often 500 metres or less from the high tide line—which is a no-development zone under CRZ I is denotified to CRZ II. Development is allowed and buildings come up
nadiamenezes@expressindia.com