On Thursday, a resident of the Park Plaza building, which overlooks the mangroves, saw several trucks dumping debris inside the mangroves.
The alert Yari Road extension citizens, who first reported that over 50 truck-loads of debris was recently dumped in mangroves and a water body close to Plaza Garden in the area, have now decided to hold a massive demonstration on Sunday against the authorities for their lackadaisical response.
On Thursday, a resident of the Park Plaza building, which overlooks the mangroves, saw several trucks dumping debris inside the mangroves. Shashi Ranjan, president of the New Yari Road Residents Association, said, "A resident informed me about the incident. I went to the site in the evening and saw fresh mounds of debris filling up almost half of the water body. I immediately informed other members of our association. We decided to gather at the site on Friday morning and find out what is going on. We even alerted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, who assured us that they will come. Even as 40 residents gathered at the site, there were no officials present."
He added that a boundary wall had also been demolished to facilitate entry of the trucks. He said the aim was clear – to fill up the water body to make a plot, destroying all mangroves. "In fact, when we were all gathered there, several people kept making rounds on motorcycles suspiciously close to the site. After our visit, no truck has come till now," said Ranjan.
Filmmaker and activist Ashoke Pandit, who was also present at the site, said, "Large swathes of mangroves have been destroyed. Several small hutments have cropped up in the area and some are even operating commercially. How can this be allowed to go on in mangroves, which are protected areas? It obviously means that the authorities have decided to simply look the other way."
Pandit added that the residents have now decided to hold a massive demonstration on Sunday, which will be joined by hundreds of residents from the locality as well as other citizens organisations, such as Save our Spaces (SOS). Meanwhile, the New Yari Road Residents Association has sent letters to BMC, police, Mangrove cell and the collector, informing them about the dumping incident and the protest.
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