Learn from Gujarat – Congress leader to Maharashtra Congress Govt.

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh Wednesday said,”I met Maharashtra CM and told him that his government should learn from Gujarat Ecology Commission for mangrove issue. In fact they should use this body.”

Jairam told this to Maharashtra CM in connection with proposed Navi Mumbai airport. A huge mangrove destruction in about 400 acres is likely to take place if the work on the Navi Mumbai airport is taken up.

Jairam said, it would be advisable if the Maharashtra government learn from the GEC in taking up compensatory planting of mangroves to offset the loss.

Gujarat has increased the area under mangroves in the state from 200 sq kms over a decade ago to almost 1,000 sq kms now.

‘Mangroves play a very major role in arresting coastal soil erosion,’ Ramesh added.

Jairam has praised Gujarat’s work in conservation and generation of Mangrow area in past also.

It should be mentioned here that Gujarat’s mangrove cover has increased sharply in over 55 sq km area during the last two years as per the last data of Forest Survey of India (FSI).

The FSI data of 2007 shows that the total increase in mangrove cover in India is 58 sq km out of which Gujarat’s contribution is 55 sq km.

Increase in mangrove cover is quiet a turnaround for Gujarat where the cover was depleting in the later parts of 1990s.

The FSI said, of the 4,639 sq km area of mangrove plantation in the country, Gujarat covered 1,046 sq km in 2007 compared with 991 sq km in 2005.

The report stated that Gujarat showed an increase in mangrove cover mainly because of plantation and protection measures taken by the state.

While the official data is up to the year 2007. In the year 2008 and 2009, Gujarat added another 30 sq km areas of mangrove cover to protect the coastal sand erosion at the coast, according to state government.

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