the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) told the court on Thursday that the expert committee appointed to suggest ways to make Mithi river encroachment-free,has gone haywire. The MMRDA rubbished the committees recommendation to demolish the Mithi river retention wall and conserve the mangroves. The court had earlier directed the authority to take a decision regarding the recommendations submitted by a three-member committee for demolishing the 300-m retention wall on the Mithi and also for conservation of the river and adjoining mangroves. The court had set up the expert committee,comprising Avinash Kubal of Maharashtra Nature Park,Samir Mehta,South Asia Director of International Rivers,and Dr Goldin Quadros of World Wild Life. The committee was set up following a public interest litigation filed by activist Jagdish Gandhi for making the river encroachment-free and restoration of water bodies. During the course of hearing,the petitioner also challenged the construction of retention wall on the ground that the wall was hindering the ecosystem as it was built between the river and the mangroves. The committee has recommended the removal of the entire wall and removal of pipes to ensure free flow of tidal waters reaching parts of mangroves. They have suggested that the wall should be transferred to another position which should not be between the river and the mangroves,but between the housing colony and mangroves. It has also advised security steps to prevent destruction of mangroves and also to restrict projects that harm the ecosystem. MMRDA lawyer Kiran Bagaria,however,said the mangroves were planted and nurtured by the authority. An affidavit submitted by Mahadev Narkav,executive engineer,states that in order to save the area and mangroves MMRDA decided to construct a retaining wall which will also discourage encroachment,arrest erosion of banks and channelisation of the flow. The committee has gone far beyond the work assigned to it by the court, the affidavit states.
