While the action taken by the mangrove cell is welcome and its reassurance that patrolling will be done at certain sites may be good, it is important to go to the crux of the matter: allowing encroachment to take root and then multiply. Then, when things get out of hand or are red-flagged by activists, the official machinery starts churning. By then, a significant amount of damage has been done; and then, it is a matter of playing catch up with the encroachers.

Also Read: Mumbai: BMC’s Rs 25-crore gift to hawkers and encroachers 

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We have to start responding to unauthorised construction much faster and in fact plug up the loopholes that allow illegal commercial enterprises and shanties to come up in the first place. The authorities must trace the root of this malaise and then prise it out of the ground altogether. This will take great will and focus, but it can be done. 

It seems like a merry-go-round currently. Encroachments come up on mangrove land. Green activists flag them. Officials finally swing into action. Then, they are demolished. Care has to be taken that they do not come up again. We need to stem the rot at the starting point itself.