The next time you pass by a patch of mangroves, make sure you smile wide. According to news reports, the state of Maharashtra has seen a meteoric rise in terms of mangrove cover in the last 6 years. It was just a matter of years ago when there were growing concerns over how mangroves were suffering due to water pollution. Earlier this week, the annual State of Indian Forest Cover Report 2019 was released which reported that there had been a stupendous rise in the mangrove cover across the state.
Maharashtra’s Mangrove Cover Rises By 72%
The report states that the mangrove cover in the state has increased by 16 sq km in just the last two years. Speaking to TNN, the Mangrove Conservation Cell’s previous head, N Vasudevan said, “The overall increase during the last three assessment periods is 134 sq km, which is a 72% increase in six years.”
The city of Mumbai had seen a steady decline in mangrove cover due to various reasons like growing pollution in the city. According to parts of the report, the land under the mangrove cover in Thane has increased by 0.7 sq km while in the Mumbai district the cover has increased by 0.3 sq km.
If you are in the dark about why mangroves are extremely important, it’s because they provide stability in the form of restricting soil erosion. And that is not all, they also protect shorelines of cities and towns on the sides of the sea from floods and waves. In Mumbai, they have largely been destroyed to create roads and other infrastructure. And due to the dumping of garbage and the salinity of the seawater getting compromised, mangroves in the city are at increasing risk. Which is why this report couldn’t have come at a better time. Here’s hoping that 2020 brings even better news on the mangrove front.