The Bombay High Court on Monday said the Maharashtra government, under the garb of development, wants to destroy mangroves in the state, which is why it is seeking modification of a March 2013 HC order banning construction on wetlands. A division bench of Justices A.S. Oka and A.A. Sayed had last week come down heavily on the government for failing to perform its duty of identifying wetlands and instead seeking modification of the HC order. It had then directed government pleader G.W. Mattos to take instructions from the relevant officers and inform the court if it wants to continue with the application or withdraw it. Mr. Mattos informed the court on Monday that the government would not withdraw the application. The high court said, Under the garb of development you (the state government) want to destroy mangroves. We do not appreciate such an approach by the government. You seem to be interested only in destroying mangroves. The bench said it would hear the application on merit and directed Acting Advocate General Rohit Deo to appear in the matter. As per the HC’s March 2013 order, the government was directed to identify all wetlands in the state so that these can be marked in the map. However, till date the government has not done so, the court was informed.
2016, The Hindu