Bombay HC Warns Over Shrinking Green Cover
Court raises alarm over mangrove felling, says Mumbai may need 'oxygen shots' if forests continue to disappear
- Bombay High Court expresses concern over rapid loss of forests and mangroves.
- Court hears plea seeking permission to cut 847 mangrove trees for bullet train project.
- Bench questions compensatory afforestation carried out far from affected sites.
- State assures court it will identify nearby land for plantation before next hearing.
GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 16th July: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the rapid loss of forests and mangroves in and around Mumbai, warning that if green cover continues to disappear, residents may one day have to carry oxygen cylinders and take periodic “oxygen shots.”
The observations came while hearing a petition filed by the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (MSETCL) seeking permission to cut 847 mangrove trees spread across 3.35 hectares of forest land in Palghar district for a 13.06-kilometre power transmission line linked to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad said the continued destruction of trees and mangroves was causing irreversible environmental damage.
“It is a loss for this area. As it is, Bombay has so little oxygen that the day will not be far when people will carry oxygen cylinders to take oxygen shots,” the bench observed.
The court also criticised the practice of compensatory afforestation at locations far from where trees are felled. Referring to a proposal to undertake plantation work in Solapur, nearly 500 kilometres away from the affected area, the bench said such measures do little to restore the local ecological balance.
The judges further noted that authorities often fail to ensure the survival of newly planted saplings after afforestation drives.
Clarifying that it was not attempting to stall the high-profile bullet train project, the High Court stressed that environmental safeguards must accompany development. It suggested that compensatory plantations should begin before tree felling and be carried out within the same region wherever possible.
Following the court’s observations, the Maharashtra government’s Advocate General assured the bench that efforts would be made to identify degraded forest land in the vicinity for compensatory afforestation.
The High Court has reserved its order on the petition and will consider the matter further after the state identifies suitable land for local plantation.
