Environmentalists ask PM Modi to protect Maharashtra mangroves as 7,388 hectares remain untransferred

Environmental groups in Maharashtra are calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and protect the state's mangroves. Nearly eight years after a Bombay High Court order, 7,388 hectares of mangrove cover have still not been transferred to the Maharashtra Forest Department. That is about 23 percent of the state's recorded mangrove area, leaving these ecosystems exposed to destruction and encroachment. The groups point to the government's own MISHTI program, which promotes mangrove restoration, and argue that protecting existing mangroves should be the first priority. Mangroves are valuable blue carbon assets and natural coastal defenses. The pending transfers are concentrated in Palghar, Raigad, and Thane districts. Activists also highlight ongoing damage from infrastructure projects and garbage dumping in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. They propose a Flamingo Blue Carbon Urban Complex that would treat mangroves, wetlands, and mudflats as a single protected landscape for carbon storage and flood mitigation.