Forest dept files FIR against Army club for mangrove destruction

MUMBAI:THE forest department on Tuesday filed a first information report (FIR) against Sagarmatha Army Club in Navy Nagar, Colaba, for debris dumping near mangroves and illegal reclamation of the sea.

“An FIR has been filed against the Army club in violation of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, for carrying out construction activity less than 50 metres from mangrove trees, which is a violation as per environmental laws and Bombay high court (HC) orders,” said DR Patil, divisional forest officer, state mangrove cell. “The entire scale of violations will now be investigated as to how much mangrove area has been lost.”

The club maintained its stand that it did not carry out any illegal reclamation and that debris was filled on the shore to prevent sea erosion during monsoon. “The matter will be taken up by our legal department,” an Army officer said.

Action against the club was initiated after Mumbai city collector Shivaji Jondhale met with officials from the mangrove cell last Monday. “Initially, Mumbai Police was supposed to file the FIR under the Environment Protection Act, 1986. However, after meeting with the mangrove cell, we realised that the land had been transferred from this office to the forest department,” said Jondhale. “A letter was then issued to the cell, directing it to book the offenders.”

This is the second time since April that the district collector has ordered an FIR be filed against the club for similar violations. There had been no follow-up action then owing to Lok Sabha election duties, the collector had said.

Mangrove destruction or activities like reclamation, debris-dumping or construction, within 50m of mangroves was banned by the HC in September 2018. The latest violations came to light on November 19 when environment group Conservation Action Trust (CAT) had spotted trucks carrying boulders and debris entering the club premises. CAT had alleged that mangrove forests were being reclaimed in the area. Following this, Jondhale had instructed a joint site inspection (including police and mangrove cell) on December 5. HT had reported that the team identified that antiflooding measures were carried out less than 50m from mangroves.

“The FIR was to be filed against the person responsible for carrying out mangrove destruction to ensure such violations are not repeated. Action should have been taken against the officer responsible long ago for negligence and dereliction of duty,” said Debi Goenka, executive trustee, CAT.