MUMBAI, Oct. 17 -- The Bombay High Court on Thursday came down heavily on six district administrations in the Konkan region for failing to implement its earlier orders regarding mangrove conservation. It directed the district collectors of Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Sindhudurg to hand over 10,000 hectares of identified mangrove land to the Maharashtra forest department within two months, while also setting a detailed timeline for identifying, measuring and handing over the remaining land. A division bench of justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Sandesh Patil passed the order on a contempt petition filed by NGO Vanshakti in 2018. The petition alleged that the district administrations had failed to transfer huge chunks of mangrove land to the forest department's mangrove cell in order to be declared protected areas, despite receiving specific directions from the court seven years ago. "We would like to know from each of the collectors as to why the order passed in 2018 was not complied with. None of the collectors have moved the court for extension, or clarified how they have complied with the directions," the bench said. In its petition, Vanshakti had stated that although 4,000 hectares of mangrove land had been transferred to the forest department, based on the high court's 2018 order, a little more than 10,000 hectares were yet to be transferred. The petition further pointed out that 1,637.2 hectares of identified mangrove land, which formed a part of a 2005 map prepared by the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC), have not been transferred to the forest department to date. "This implies that all such mangrove forests have indeed been destroyed," the petition said, adding that such land was directed to be identified as land capable of mangrove cultivation and restored by the government. The high court noted that land identification maps were not created as directed in 2018, while there was a 20-year delay since the MRSAC prepared mangrove maps. "Even if we consider the 2018 judgment, there is a seven-year delay," it said....