Are we harvesting Mumbai's kidneys?

As a boy growing up in Mumbai's eastern suburbs, Stalin D. delighted in his vibrant neighbourhood of wetland birds, turtles, fish, frogs and mudskippers, fostered well by the mangroves of the Thane creek.

Since then, this and other mangrove belts along the coast of Maximum City, have been swallowed up by land reclamation for urban development projects. The boy, for his part, has grown up to be an environmentalist with a knack for conserving the remaining population of mangroves — and hammering into less empathetic minds their significance.

"Mangroves prevent soil erosion, maintaining a steady shoreline along areas where fresh and saline water mix," says Stalin, a key member of NGO Vanashakti, which has, in the past decade, lodged over 18 Public Interest Litigations (PILs) to save Mumbai's surviving greens. The ground shrub growing in the intertidal zones also enrich biodiversity by attracting a wide array of fish, birds and amphibians. In addition, mangroves desalinate and detox water, practically offering a supply of portable water that can be used for various purposes, including drinking, after minimum purification. "You can very well call them the kidneys of the earth—hope for mankind," reasons Stalin.

Of course, for a section of builders, mangrove tracts are simply construction opportunities — land waiting to be deforested and developed. It is this "greed for surplus" that has led to depletion around Lokhandwala, Jogeshwari, Malad, Dahisar, Gorai, Mankhurd, Deonar, Kanjurmarg, Vikhroli and Mulund. Of these, the Vikhroli-Mulund-Thane belt put up an exemplary fight, where strong support from locals enabled Stalin to eradicate slums and restore mangroves — slum land is invariably converted into construction land with meagre incentives; this in turn, threatens the vegetation in the area. As a foot-soldier, Stalin's gripe rests not just with builders, but with the government's revenue department. "Their pro-reclamation approach negates some excellent work done by the state forest department's mangrove cell," rues the 51-year-old.

A part the same battle, conservationist and naturalist Anish Andheria, would rather root for some collective introspection and rational criticism. "As human beings and citizens, we have failed to promote our long-term interests. Had we played watchdog all these years, no builder or politician would have dared mess with the mangroves," he points out. Interestingly, the president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust does not link expanding developments with the population and space issues Mumbai is notorious for. "Survey the buildings constructed in the last five years. Unclaimed apartments and single unit ownership of multiple spaces would confirm that it's a supply-driven market," he says.

Yet Andheria is optimistic. For him, even talking about mangroves amounts to positive action. "Did you know that other than corals, mangroves are the only land-building organisms on earth? They are the first line of defence against floods and can create entire ecosystems for marine and avian lives!" he marvels. To ensure the richness of these ecosystems, not only large areas, but a large diversity in species (of mangroves) is required. "A mangrove belt with different species would attract more animal diversity than a monocultural tract of the same area," he explains, pointing out that although 20-25 different species might currently exist around Mumbai, the Rhizophora and Avicennia varieties alone make up 80 per cent of the growth.

Now that we're talking stats, how high are the stakes? "Let's just say we've gone and built ourselves towering houses in the areas that would be worst hit should there be a tsunami," the man grimaces. "There are some great laws that exist on paper. Now if only we could ensure their implementation!" exclaims Andheria.