Mumbai: The Malvani police station in Malad on Sunday stopped the work carried out by Navy authorities at INS Hamla, which includes dumping of debris in the mangroves at Marve, Malad. The police and BMC officers reached the spot where one JCB and two dumpers belonging to INS Hamla were seized.
Locals have repeatedly complained to Malvani police station about the Navy dumping debris in the mangrove area, thereby damaging the environment. Jessica Koli, a resident of Marve, said, “Around 50 acre of the mangrove area has already been damaged. We have been complaining about the issue since last year. Every time, it stops for a while only to resume later. This time too, they have stopped the work.”
Locals also claimed that they had recorded videos of debris being dumped during the night, which had also been submitted by NGO Watchdog Foundation to the forest department and the police. God-frey Pimenta, trustee, Wat-chdog Foundation, said, “Despite repeated complaints, no action has been taken for long. On Satu-rday, we again complained to the police about the wo-rk, which was stopped the next day. The satellite images from this year, wh-en compared to the last year, show the immense da-mage that has been done.”
A BMC official said, “We have directed the Navy not to carry out any further dumping of debris in the mangroves.” During an earlier inspection by the Mumbai suburban district collector’s office, it emer-ged that INS Hamla was er-ecting a boundary wall on the side of the road away from the mangrove area. Officials from INS Hamla were not available for comment when contacted.
