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Flaming the verdancy

In the third week of our 'SOS' series, we focus on the alarming fires that are often ablaze at the Charkop mangroves

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The mangroves bordering Charkop are facing problems similar to the mangroves in other parts of the city—that of encroachment and dumping. But in addition to this, two other problems have been plaguing these green lungs—fire and trespassing.

A vast portion of the approximate 130 acres of mangroves is green and well maintained. But encroachments have started to seep in from one side of the mangroves. According to the locals, this portion of mangroves has seen close to four to five hutments in the past few years but now, a big 'colony' of shanties has mushroomed in the region.
Mili Shetty, Chief Coordinator, Charkop Sector 8 Vikas Samiti, who resides close to the mangroves, elucidates, "Initially, there had been only a few shanties and we had reported the issue to the ward immediately, but no action has been taken."

Several hawkers, mainly fruit and vegetable sellers, operate around the streets of the mangroves. These men, at the end of the day, take all the collected waste and dump it in the mangroves. To put an end to this, the association had been relentlessly following up with the ward. Finally, in 2010, the ward constructed a concrete wall that now acts as fencing around the periphery of the mangroves. This has hardly helped the situation as these people now jump over the wall to dump the waste. The wall is not very high, which makes it easy for the hawkers to simply hop over to the other side. Adds Shetty, "We have been asking the ward to work around this problem as the dumping needs to be stopped at the earliest."
In a portion near the Sector 8 side of the mangroves, few young boys have been creating ruckus. Shetty explains, "With beer bottles in hand, they enter this area, sit here and after getting drunk, they trash the bottles here and light fire to them." Every time Shetty calls up the fire brigade, they are prompt and reach the spot immediately. However, the police have been taking these miscreant cases casually. According to the locals, the police is least bothered and reluctant to take any action. Shetty adds, "Whenever I call up the cops in case of the fire, they have the same lackadaisical attitude saying, Wahi problem hai, hum kya kar sakte hai."

The locals opine that the authorities have only been promising to take action, but none of the promises are fulfilled. Officers from the Pollution Board, BMC and the police have visited the sites, admitting that the situation is grim. However, when it comes to fixing these 'grim' situations, there's only one thing that is constant—inaction!

Sahebrao Gaikwad, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, R/South ward, says, "We plan to increase the height of the concrete fencing around the periphery of the mangroves. For this, we are in touch with the Forest Department, as we need their approval. An increased height will stop people from jumping over the fence."
N Vasudevan, Chief Conservator of forests, Mangrove Cell is currently in Australia and so couldn't be contacted.

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