Mangroves depletion: Gujarat High Court seeks report from Ecology Commission

The Gujarat High Court has sought an independent report from the Gujarat Ecology Commission by June 14 on the allegations of widespread destruction of mangroves along the Victor Port in Amreli district.

The direction came from the division bench of Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav in connection with a public interest litigation filed by Ajay Shiyal alleging that the mangroves were destroyed by a private company, Om Sai Navigations, entrusted with the work of strengthening and upgrading the port for cargo handling facilities, and others involved in the shrimp culture business, along with Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Limited (GHCL).

The court directed the commission to send one of its members in May on a visit of the area and submit an independent report on the ground realities prevalent in the area. Notably, during the hearing on Friday, advocate general Kamal Trivedi proposed the idea to the court submitting that the member of the commission will be an expert in ecology and can apprise the court of the ground realities related to the grievances of the petitioner.

Notably, the private company and the state government has refuted the allegations of the petitioner, with the Amreli collector submitting several documents including maps and sketches to drive home his point. The court, meanwhile, during Friday's hearing modified the stay imposed on any further construction by the private companies, and directed the latter not to carry out any construction activity in the buffer zone and creek area.

The high court had issued a notice to the companies on February 6 seeking a reply from them and imposed a stay on the illegal destruction of mangroves cover along the coastline near the villages of Victor, Pipavav, Behrai, Karthivadar, Datardi, Khera, Chanch, and Patva, of Amreli district by private companies.

Shiyal has claimed in his petition that around 1.4 lakh mangroves were grown during the period between 2005 and 2017.

The main purpose behind growing the mangrove cover was to stop the sea water from entering into the villages and to decrease soil salinity. It also helped in protecting the shoreline from storms, tides, etc., by preventing soil erosion.

He has submitted that several industries have set up their operations in Rajula taluka of Amreli district for commercial activities and close to 40,000 mangroves have been destroyed to meet their additional land requirements.

IN A NUTSHELL

• HC has sought an independent report from the Gujarat Ecology Commission by June 14 on the allegations of widespread destruction of mangroves along the Victor Port in Amreli
   
• The court directed the commission to send one of its members in May on a visit of the area and submit an independent report