Mumbai, as a city, has always lived with the sea. But what often protects the city from are its mangroves. Today, that natural defence system stands threatened as the proposed Versova-Bhayander Coastal Road project moves ahead, with over 45,000 mangroves expected to be felled or transplanted to make way for the 26-kilometre stretch. 

The road, envisioned as a solution to Mumbai’s worsening congestion, promises faster travel between the western suburbs and northern stretches of the metropolitan region. Yet critics argue that the cost of this “development” is dangerously high. Mangroves are ecosystems that act as Mumbai’s natural flood barriers. They absorb tidal surges, reduce coastal erosion, and serve as carbon sinks in a city increasingly vulnerable to climate disasters. Their destruction could intensify flooding, particularly during monsoons, when Mumbai already struggles with waterlogging and rising sea levels. Environmental groups have warned that removing mangroves at such a scale could destabilise fragile coastal zones and increase the city’s climate vulnerability. 

This crisis also comes at a grave human cost, causing not only ecological damage but also affecting an incredibly integral community in Mumbai’s ecosystem. 

For Mumbai’s Koli fishing community, among the city’s oldest inhabitants, mangroves are inseparable from livelihood. These coastal forests act as nurseries for fish, crabs, molluscs and prawns, sustaining marine biodiversity and directly influencing fishing yields. In creeks stretching from Versova to Bhayander, generations of Koli families have depended on these ecosystems for survival. With large-scale mangrove removal, fish populations are expected to decline, threatening incomes already strained by coastal pollution, overdevelopment, and shrinking fishing zones. Several fisher groups have raised concerns that the project prioritises urban infrastructure over communities whose relationship with the coast predates the city itself. 

Supporters of the project argue that compensatory afforestation and mangrove transplantation plans will offset the damage. Authorities have proposed planting replacement mangroves elsewhere. However, ecologists caution that mature mangrove ecosystems cannot simply be recreated overnight. A transplanted or newly planted mangrove does not immediately replicate the ecological functions of one that has developed over decades. Critics are also questioning whether compensatory planting in distant locations can replace ecosystems that specifically protect Mumbai’s coastline. 

When our cities are already battling extreme rainfall, heat, and disappearing green cover, sacrificing mangroves that are essential to Mumbai's ecosystem may come at a cost far greater than we can bear.

Follow Save Mumbai Mangroves on Instagram for further updates and to preserve this fragile ecosystem that's now under threat.

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