India, Jan. 26 -- Urban researcher and geospatial analyst Abhijit Ekbote, 50, has developed a mapping tool that citizens can access freely to assess mangrove loss due to the proposed Versova-Dahisar Coastal Road, which will require the felling of at least 45,000 mangroves as per estimates by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Hosted on CityResource.in - a website that makes archival maps, data and spatial tools accessible for communities, researchers and planners - the mapping tool demarcates clearly the alignment of the road through residential and commercial areas, creeks and green patches. It also allows users to select a stretch of the road, measure the area it will impact, and compute the number of mangroves that would ne...