NGT and Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Upadhyay has urged the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to stop the State government from destroying the mangrove forests in an extent of 100 acres in Kakinada.
Livelihood concerns
In the petition he filed on behalf of environmental activist Bolisetty Satyanarayana in Chennai on Friday, Mr. Upadhyay said that the mangrove forests, which provide livelihood to 54,000 people eking out a living by fishing, was being cleared by the government to be distributed as sites under a housing scheme.
The mangrove forests that were of immense significance for their bio- and eco- diversity were being cleared against the lockdown norms announced by the Central government to arrest the spread of COVID-19, the petition mentioned.
The petitioner, Mr. Satyanarayana, also made the Union government, the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department, the East Godavari district administration and the Andhra Pradesh Coastal Zone Management Authority parties to the petition.
‘Violation of Acts’
The petitioner explained that the distribution of land after destruction of the mangrove forests contravened the provisions of the Coastal Zone Regulation Notification 2011 and 2019, the Environment Protection Act, 1986, the Biodiversity (protection) Act, among a host of other environmental protections Acts and regulations.
The “illegal felling” of the ecologically sensitive mangroves in close proximity to the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary was a threat to the protected area, and was a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, too, the petitioner said.
The destruction of the mangroves, though violative in itself, was also leading to a complete loss of livelihood for the local fisherman who were entirely dependent on it for a living.
“The NGT is expected to give an interim order at the earliest,” Mr. Satyanarayana told The Hindu .
