The tiny...

These are the grey mangrove (Avicennia marina), Indian mangrove (Avicennia officinalis), Apple mangrove (Sonneratia apetala) and White mangrove (Sonneratia alba). While the plants are able to regenerate within a few months, their reproduction cycle gets severely impaired, as the defoliation coincides with flowering, the scientists from IWST said.

Just how much damage are the pests causing, and would it cause long-term harm? “These pests, during the larval stage (when juveniles become adults), feed mainly on the leaves and sometimes the bark,” said N Mohan Karnat, additional principal chief conservator of forests, group co-ordinator (research), Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bengaluru. “They eat away the leaves completely, consuming the chlorophyll — the photosynthesis pigment that is essential for the plants to make food. This finally leads to skeletinisation of the trees,” said Karnat, adding that the loss of chlorophyll was dangerous for such trees, as later effects show a considerable drop in their girth and wood biomass.”

The results were collated after a fungus was isolated from one of the infected larvae and sent for identification to Agharkar Research Institute, Pune. The Maharashtra government has spent ₹7.7 lakh over the past year on this study, which was done through ten field visits across MMR mangroves in July, with more visits slated.

“This is the first time in India that research related to natural threats to mangrove trees is being done. We have asked the state mangrove cell for other locations, including mangrove forests in Mumbai, where similar problems are being seen. With the ongoing threat of climate change, such issues are only going to increase,” Karnat said. Vasudevan said the state mangrove cell had to undertake the study to ensure there was no lasting damage to the mangroves. “The mid-term results showed the trees were reviving after September, but these 14 pests stand as threats. However, the final results will reveal whether any conservation interventions are required, or if we should just leave it to nature,” said Vasudevan. He added the cell’s fear was that the pests would return in different seasons. “We want to understand what biological pests can be introduced to fight off these 14 pests that threaten the trees.” Similar studies in other countries show mangrove destruction by pests is not a rare phenomenon — in Hong Kong, one caterpillar was responsible for defoliation over three summer months for seven years from 1995. At Sepetiba Bay in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro, 17 pests were identified for destroying a two--hectare mangrove swamp in 2001. In 2008, a similar outbreak was observed at mangrove forests in Ecuador, but the trees managed to regenerate. social infrastructure. We expect this number to continue growing in the years to come,’’ said Shaishav Dharia, regional CEO, Lodha Group. The Palava ITP, across 671 acres, is part of the larger Palava city; Upper Thane is another ITP in Ambernath taluka, spread across 108 acres.

Palava City will have 7 million sqft of commercial space by 2020, while in Upper Thane, the group plans to create an ecosystem of warehouses and logistics hub along with the residential components to make both the townships economically self-sustaining.

The government has made it mandatory for developers to reserve 20% for affordable housing segment, and 5% for rental homes. But, not all urban planners and experts are optimistic about the integrated townships, pointing out the pace of development of the transport projects, and the way the townships will be planned. “A big worry is that these projects, despite their name, will not be integrated with the development plans of the region or socially with the local people,” said Sulakshana Mahajan, an urban planner. “They will be turned into gated complexes or ghettos. Public agencies should retain the responsibility for delivering infrastructure, as past experience shows developers often cut corners on this front.’’

Mahajan also pointed out that while many of these townships had hedged their bets on the transportation corridors, those projects were unlikely to get built soon, meaning homes will be created without adequate connectivity. For instance, the Panvel-karjat corridor or the Virar-alibaug multimodal corridor, which can offer suburban rail and road connectivity to many of these areas, will take at least another five years to be built. The Navi Mumbai airport is also unlikely to meet its 2019 deadline, and MTHL will get completed only by 2022.