Five years ago, when a real estate agent showed him a row-house amidst nature and overlooking the river Panvel, P B Menon thought it was an ideal place to spend the remainder of his life. The 78-year-old former project consultant did not think twice before moving out his apartment in congested Andheri and buying a rowhouse at Swati Park Housing Society. Little did he know then that he was actually letting himself in for a battle with a powerful sand-dredging and mining lobby that was led by a state minister.