Compensatory mangroves for Mumbai coastal road project face survival crisis

Environmentalists have raised serious alarm over the fate of 1.37 lakh mangroves planted by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the Bhayandar reserved forest, claiming that a vast majority of the saplings are withering barely three months after the plantation drive in December 2025, according to the Mumbai Mirror.

The plantation had been undertaken as a compensatory measure for the felling of 46,675 trees across 103 hectares, a sacrifice demanded to pave the way for the ambitious Versova–Dahisar Coastal Road project.

Dhiraj Parab, a noted environmentalist who surveyed the Bhayandar stretch in February, voiced grave concern. “The land chosen for this compensatory plantation is already a reserved mangrove forest, interspersed with grasslands and marshy terrain. It is a vital wetland ecosystem and an essential feeding ground for birds. Imposing a plantation drive here risks upsetting the delicate ecological balance,” he told the Mumbai Mirror. Parab further revealed that he had lodged a verbal complaint with the forest department and plans to file a formal grievance with the BMC.

Stalin D, director of the green NGO Vanashakti and a petitioner against the mangrove felling for the coastal road, echoed these fears. “Upon visiting the site, it was evident that no new mangrove plantation had truly taken root. The area is unsuitable for fresh growth. Despite official claims of a 95 per cent survival rate, we observed no tidal water movement — an indispensable lifeline for the young saplings,” he said.

Forest officials, however, have dismissed claims of widespread die-off. A senior officer from Thane asserted, “The trees are not dead. The appearance of withering is likely a result of tidal variations. Our team conducted a thorough inspection and confirmed that the plantation adhered to all prescribed protocols.”

The controversy has now ascended to the highest judicial corridors. Vanashakti had approached the Supreme Court after the Bombay High Court refused to halt the felling of mangroves. On Friday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi declined to intervene, upholding the high court’s 12 December 2025 order and allowing the project to proceed.

Caught in the crosscurrents of urban development and environmental preservation, the Bhayandar mangroves now stand as a fragile emblem of nature’s resilience, a silent witness to the tensions between modern infrastructure ambitions and the imperatives of ecological conservation.