India, Dec. 2 -- The Bombay High Court has ordered the state forest department to tighten and reform how it monitors the cutting and replanting of mangroves for development projects. This comes after the bench found major lapses between the permissions granted by the court and the corresponding on-ground afforestation.

A division bench of justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale was hearing a plea filed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) seeking permission to cut mangroves for installing Extra High Voltage (EHV) towers and transmission lines at the Kasheli Depot. Under a 2018 order to protect mangroves, such permissions must come from the court.

In response, the court laid down a detailed set of directi...