To save mangrove forests — the last of the untouched green spaces in the city — the mangrove cell has issued over 700 eviction notices to illegal structures inside the forests. A majority of these encroachments are in Colaba and Cheetah Camp reserved mangrove forests. Mumbai city has 4,000 hectares of reserved mangrove forests, which is under the jurisdiction of the state forest department’s mangrove cell. Of these, around five hectares have been encroached upon and the cell is working on restoring them. “These structures are mainly pre-existing ones, which were present on the land before the mangrove forest were transferred to the cell. But these are still illegal structures and we are trying to protect as much of the mangrove forest as we can,” said N Vasudevan, chief conservator of forests, mangrove cell. The encroachments have around 90 families, according to officials. Apart from hosting a variety of marine and avian species, mangrove forests act as a natural barrier against floods, protect the shoreline from soil erosion, and absorb almost eight times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than any other ecosystem. To rid the mangrove forests of all encroachments and regenerate them in the city by the year-end, the cell has intensified operations and has sought police protection for the demolition. In the next phase, the cell will construct fences and are working on a scheme to re-channelise tidal waters to these erstwhile encroached areas to promote regeneration of mangroves. “In places where such channelling is not possible, we will simply plant mangrove saplings after removing all the garbage and debris,” added Vasudevan. Such regeneration of mangrove forests assumes significance as vast stretches of mangroves on private land in the city, not under the cell’s jurisdiction, is being destroyed through debris dumping and land-filling activities. A Bombay High Court-ordered inspection by the cell of the mangrove forests outside their jurisdiction revealed “shocking case of flagrant abuse of wetlands” at Dive Anjur, adjacent to Thane-Bhiwandi road, as well as destruction of wetlands along Mumbai-Dahisar Link Road, village Bhuigaon in Vasai, Ghodbunder Road, Vikhroli-Mulund Road and Targhar village in Raigad district. Further, with CRZ concessions for Coastal Road project and approvals for the Mumbai Trans-Habour Link, the city is set to lose its existing mangrove cover from the coastline despite compensatory replantation in other parts of the city.