MUMBAI: Every monsoon season, heavy rains inundate parts of Mumbai, flooding roads and disrupting daily life across India’s financial capital.
Decades of rapid urbanisation have outpaced improvements to the city’s drainage infrastructure, while its low-lying coastal location leaves it vulnerable to storm surges and rising sea levels.
For conservationists, the city’s mangrove forests are a critical part of its natural coastal defences.
They grow along tropical coastlines, where their dense root systems absorb wave energy and stabilise shorelines.
“Mumbai is an island city. It is created out of reclaimed land, so the sea is always pushing in. You’re always under attack and the land is getting eroded,” said Stalin Dayanand, director of environmental group Vanashakti.
“Mangroves form the natural defence against these surges and tidal inundations. Climate change, when the sea level increases, the pressure of the sea also increases. So these are the things that stand in the way of destruction,” he added.
This natural asset has come under renewed pressure as Mumbai embarks on a series of major infrastructure projects aimed at improving connectivity and easing congestion across the city.
One of the most significant is a new 26km coastal road.
Authorities say the project will affect about 45,000 mangrove trees, prompting concern among residents and environmental groups who warn that removing them would leave the city more exposed to high tides and other coastal hazards.