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Thanks to the Eco warrior Stalin and his team from Vanashakti for their untiring efforts to preserve our coast and wetlands.

Swati Deshpande reported in the Times of India on 17th October 2025: A group of collectors from across Maharashtra appeared virtually before the Bombay High Court on Thursday, as directed, and assured that vast tracts of mangrove forests would be handed over by most to the state forest department in two months, where land is identified, and paperwork will be finished in six months, in compliance with a 2018 judgment to preserve mangroves.

“We can see what is happening when the environment is not protected,” said Justice Revati Mohite Dere, as she and Justice Sandesh Patil gently reprimanded and nudged the collectors to do their duty.
The Mumbai suburban district and the Ratnagiri collectors informed the HC that the 2018 judgment to transfer mangrove forest lands was complied with. In Mumbai suburban, over 4,000 hectares of such land was handed over to the state forest department, and in Ratnagiri, all 11,000 hectares were transferred.

In the Mumbai suburban area, the HC was informed that 275 hectares of new mangrove land was identified and would be handed over too. The HC, by a Sep 17, 2018 judgment in a 2006 PIL, passed comprehensive directions to ensure the conservation of mangroves and directed that all mangrove areas on govt land be declared “protected forests” and handed over to the forest department within 12 weeks of such declaration. On Thursday, the HC said no one even sought an extension.
In Raigad district, the collector said it was in the process of handing over 2,342 hectares, which has to be verified. The HC questioned why they were waiting to verify all, stating, “by the end of it, what was verified and found would also have gone.” The bench said mangroves, when found, should be transferred immediately.
The bench orally stated it was not for the court to keep monitoring compliance with its judgment. “We must make it very clear, we don’t like to monitor. It is your duty; only when you fail, we step in.”
“What is happening today because these mangroves, all in suburbs in Thane and Raigad districts, are being destroyed as dumping grounds or encroached, it is your duty (as officers) to protect, to ensure such land is not lost, but this is not happening.” The HC asked the NGO and state to not treat the litigation as adversarial, saying the effort should be to protect the mangroves. Vanashakti and its director Stalin Dayanand had filed a contempt petition over non-compliance.
The HC recorded an assurance by the State Mangrove Cell that all lands in the land bank marked as protected forests would be preserved, and the HC asked for flying squads to ensure they are not encroached upon, cut, or become dumping grounds.

The HC also said a fence or wall should be constructed around the perimeter of such lands, while advocate Zaman Ali for Vanashakti said that between the time possession is handed over and all paperwork for mutation is done, the forest department should be empowered to act.