‘What are syringes, bottles doing inside mangroves in Navi Mumbai?’

While carrying out cleanup drives in mangrove areas nature lovers in Navi Mumbai are coming across medical waste including syringesDirector of NGO NatConnect Foundation B N Kumar and environmentalist Nandkumar Pawar wrote to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde about the matter on August 28Trash that usually ends up in the seaTheir letter states that even as a dozen NGOs are committed to cleaning up mangroves in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMR more and more waste is being drained into the sea choking vital plants that save the coastKumar wrote ldquoOfficial apathy coupled with citizen irresponsibility is leading to tonnes of muck flowing into the creek and choking the mangroves in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai coasts often leading to frustration among selfless workers From chappals to mattresses to liquor bottles to medical waste the list of garbage the mangrove sena picks up is ever unendingNavi Mumbaibased activist Dharmesh Barai who has just completed the 106th edition of his cleanup drive with his lsquomangrove soldiersrsquo informed NatConnect Foundation that they had collected a large number of liquor bottles and medical waste such as test kits and syringes on SundayThe NGO also demanded that the government step in to take stern action against revellers who have parties on the seashores and discard their waste into the seaMedical waste discarded school bags found at a mangrove siteMangroves are not only frontline soldiers protecting coasts from tidal attacks and storms they are also inexpensive rainforests as they grow on their own Apart from serving as breeding grounds for a variety of fish and crab mangroves act as carbon sinksOn August 28 mangrove soldiers collected some 800 kg of liquor bottlesThe letter stated ldquoThe cleanup teams have also removed hundreds of school bags from the mangrove forests The garbage that is collected at the 12odd points could be as much as 10 to 12 tonnes a week or close to 50 tonnes a month Apart from garbage dumps on the coasts open nullahs are also to blame for the garbage that is killing our mangrovesrdquoThe Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation NMMC has placed metal grills and meshes ahead of the outlets that drain into the creek a measure that seems to be workingStating that the government must take steps to stop this destruction by erecting meshes at all drains and open nullahs the letter read ldquoThis is a onetime investment that will fetch rich dividends in terms of healthy mangrovesrdquoKumar also suggested that the government take steps to deter people from throwing garbage into the creeks and drains such as imposing stringent penalties and even imprisonment for repeat offendersldquoJust imagine the plight of the selfless mangrove soldiers who venture into the thick grass through the slush to pick up the muck and get hurt due to glass pieces and syringesrdquo the letter read800The weight of liquor bottles found at mangrove sites on August 28 in kg