There is no place on land or water like a mangrove forest. Anyone who wishes to bask in the singularity of nature ought to visit a dense mangrove vegetation once in her lifetime.
It is a world in itself — isolated yet integrally intertwined with its neighbouring ecosystems of land and water. The ecotone of a mangrove forest with its flora and fauna will mesmerise you.
Recently, I had the fortune of visiting one for a biomass survey with my colleagues. We located it in the heart of India’s bustling metropolis — Mumbai. A glance at the mangroves just abutting the high-rise locality of Lokhandwala feels like a glance at a landscape stolen from an alien planet.
Just about 100 metres from a busy road and a Metro construction site, is a world that is pristine, quiet and cut off from the urban cacophony. What is remarkable is that such a site has survived within the metropolis despite the onslaught of urbanisation.
Take an adventurous step, and a decently healthy person, weighing around 85 kg, has his leg easily sunk by five or six inches in the marsh. Two of my colleagues did not understand the tricks that these marshes play. And they fell to the ground covering themselves in mud from head to toe.
But it’s simple — only do not panic! If the land sucks your foot in, let it do so. Your leg sinks three inches, maybe four or even six in the mud. But then it stops. And that is when you try to drag that leg out. A good pull, and you are good to let the land play tricks on your next step. If you resist the land’s hold on your leg and try to escape its cushiony embrace in panic, you are only a few seconds from the land taking you in its muddy hug. There is a knack in trudging through without falling to the ground.
Contrary to popular imagination, this mangrove forest is not a cover of shrub vegetation. The mangroves here are tall, some even reaching seven metres in height, with an average girth of 35 cm. The trees have a wide canopy. Though I call the landscape an alien world, it is we who are aliens in the mangroves. Each step of a human disturbs the serenity and tranquillity of the crustacean world there. Crabs, sea snakes and a variety of molluscs abound in these areas. Also, a study by the ICAR’s Central Institute of Fisheries Education says there are nearly 10 species of mangroves in the vicinity of Versova.
Extinction threat
However, Mumbai’s mangroves may be on the verge of extinction. Coastal pollution is a major threat, besides the demand for sea-facing real estate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment Report has warned that large portions of Mumbai may get submerged from rising sea-levels.
Mangroves function as shock absorbers to surges from the seaward side. They are not merely badlands to be forgotten, but a crucial organ of the urban ecosystem. For a city like Mumbai, the mangroves are the last major bulwark against an uncertain future.
mokalprathamesh95@gmail.com
