NGT DISMISSES CIDCO PLEA, UPHOLDS STATUS OF PANJE AS CRZ-1
MUMBAI: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday dismissed a review petition filed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) challenging an order of the Tribunal dated April 15, 2021, in which CIDCO was directed to ensure that tidal water inlets to the Panje holding pond are opened to allow free flow of tidal water to the wetland.
In doing so, the NGT also upheld the status of Panje as a protected area under the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) rules and emphasised on the need to preserve its ecology.
In September 2018, CIDCO had shut 76 sluice gates around the Panje holding pond in the Dronagiri node using a floodcontrol mechanism to close high-tide water ingress. Some gates had also been damaged, which environmentalists said was starving the adjacent mangrove forests of water. In October 2019, following complaints submitted to the state mangrove cell and interventions by the wetland grievance redressal committee, these gates were opened by CIDCO.
The Panje coastal wetland is a low-lying area of approximately 289 hectares circumscribed by Panje, Phunde, Dongari and Bokadvira villages. It is bordered by mangroves on the west and the east and has mangroves inside the wetland at some locations. The recently released National Wetland Decadal Change Atlas prepared by the Space Application Centre (SAC) and ratified by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Control (MOEFCC) clearly demarcates Panje as wetland with inter-tidal water, mangroves and mudflats. For the remaining five culverts which remained blocked, Nandakumar Pawar of the Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan environment NGO moved the NGT, which passed the relevant order last April.