CCTVs on blink, debris dumped along Sion-Panvel highway

NAVI MUMBAI: Rampant debris-dumping along Sion-Panvel (S-P) highway despite installation of CCTV cameras is posing a threat to mangroves. Residents alleged that the forest department had failed to maintain the cameras and a data collection and monitoring centre nearby had been shut for long.
To keep a vigil on miscreants destroying the green patch along Thane creek, the cameras were installed in 2018 following a hue and cry. D S Kukade, range forest officer of mangroves cell, admitted that the cameras installed at Vashigaon stretch have not been working.
B N Kumar, an activist from NatConnect Foundation, said, "We have lodged a fresh complaint with the mangrove committee to draw its attention to the issue of debris-dumping that destroys mangroves. Over one-and-half-years, the situation has not changed. Much of the debris has been levelled to facilitate highway expansion." "During the pandemic the cameras could not be maintained and we are working to get them reactivated. The data collection centre has to be relocated now. It will take weeks," added Kukade. "This green patch has to be protected from the debris mafia quickly," said Nandakumar Pawar of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan, another green group that also raised concerns with the mangrove committee.