New wetlands committee to address complaints in 48 hours

Navi Mumbai: Members of the newly formed Wetland Grievance Redressal Committee recently met in the city. It was decided to deal with complaints linked to wetlands destruction within 48 hours.

The committee was formed based on the directive of the Thane district collectorate dated April 17, 2017, and is headed by a Naib Tehsildar rank official for the protection of wetlands in Navi Mumbai and Konkan regions.

“It was decided at our meeting to understand any complaint lodged by the public within 48 hours. Sincere efforts will also be put to resolve it,” said environmentalist and committee member, Prasad Khale of the NGO, Conservation Action Trust.

After the committee members met at the Turbhe office of the Belapur circle officer of Thane collectorate, they also visited two wetlands sites in Seawoods and Ghansoli about which citizens had complained about debris dumping and mangroves destruction.

“The members first visited the mangroves site near the Seawoods railway station where debris dumping was visible. The committee asked an executive engineer of Central Railway to remove the debris from the spot with the use of JCB, so that the mangroves patch will not be killed,” said Khale.

At the Ghansoli site, opposite sector 15, the committee noted that a large wetlands area had been encroached upon. Since this land belongs to Cidco, the committee will correspond with the agency to take action.

In the absence of any dedicated helpline number, the citizens can email or text their grievances to the Konkan divisional commissionerate and the Thane district collectorate, from where it will be forwarded to the wetlands committee members.