MUMBAI, Sept. 13 -- In a significant judgment, the Bombay high court on Tuesday ordered compensatory afforestation to be done before mangroves or trees were cut for infra projects. It also ordered transparency in the process, directing all the details of the cutting and replacing to be put up on a website that was accessible to the public. The case pertained to MMRDA's Metro Line 5. On Tuesday, the planning authority told the court that it planned to cut 26 mangroves for the Kasheli depot of Metro Line-5 (Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan) even though it had been given permission for 70 from the relevant authorities. It submitted that the implementation of the 24.90-km Metro corridor was vital for the growing transportation needs of Mumbai. Since the project is one of significant public utility, the court on July 22, 2025, had granted MMRDA permission to commence the project. In respect of the 70 mangroves to be cut, the respondents were obligated to plant 370 mangrove saplings (5.29 times the number). Irked by the inordinate delay in this, the court noted that no parallel steps had been taken to implement the compensatory afforestation. After additional government pleader O A Chandurkar submitted that the plantation of 370 to 400 mangrove saplings was expected to be completed by the end of September, the court directed MMRDA to create a dedicated website, accessible to everyone, containing all details such as amounts deposited, mangroves/trees affected, species of trees to be felled and where and how the compensatory afforestation efforts were being undertaken. The court also highlighted that MMRDA's afforestation was to be done at Nimdhale village at Dhule, which is 345 km from Mumbai, instead of Thane where the mangroves were sought to be cut. Therefore, it directed the authorities to plant the 370 mangrove saplings at Surai village, noting that compensatory afforestation was being carried out at locations remote from the sites where trees were felled instead of near the affected areas which were environmentally impacted by such felling. "We have observed a glaring lack of coordination between the grant of permission and the actual execution of afforestation activities and also gross delay in plantations," the court said. Terming mangroves "climate heroes" and emphasising that development and environment must go hand in hand, Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr Neela Gokhale stated that destruction of mangroves violated the fundamental rights of citizens. "Where any development project involves the felling of mangroves or diversion of ecologically sensitive land, compensatory afforestation must not remain a formality or a mere post-facto measure. Instead, it must be enforced in a transparent manner, with a parallel condition for project execution," they ruled. The bench also observed that the development authorities would approach the court at the eleventh hour, seeking urgent permission for cutting trees and mangroves, saying that any delay would escalate project costs....