As Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his ambitious Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats and Tangible Incomes (MISHTI) on June 5, World Environment Day, environmentalists have cautioned against excessive growth of mangroves that eat into precious mudflats along the city’s coast.

Modi launched the mangrove plantation initiative on Monday at 75 locations along the coasts, with 15 in Maharashtra—including Mulund and the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS), a Ramsar site. In a letter to the Prime Minister, NatConnect Director B N Kumar said mangrove plantation is being done while authorities are ignoring the destruction of the tidal plants under the garb of infrastructure development.