Most Mumbaites feel sympatico with their mangroves only when another bout of torrential floods hits them. Only in such dire circumstances do they collectively mourn the decline of an ecosystem that serves as a critical buffer between land and sea, for a city that has been reclaimed from an array of islands. The mangroves trap silt, ward off erosion and also provide a green counterweight to increasing population, pollution and construction pressures. They pluckily hold on in select spaces, such as around the Vasai and Thane Creeks, around Manori and Malad, Bandra and Versova?doing good for the inhabitants of slums and high-rises alike. In rare instances, they even provide people usually restricted to pavements an opportunity to breathe deep, inhale Nature, sight a few flamingos or avocets. One such magnificent opportunity is available alongside the Western bank of the Thane Creek, where Mumbai?s single-largest mangrove belt adjoins the Godrej project area in Vikhroli. It?s known as the Godrej mangroves in short, and Adi Godrej has made a spellbinding assertion that he will be handing it over to the city as a conservation area.
In the wake of the Gates-Buffett Giving Pledge, we have seen a lot of self-flagellation on Indian shores, about how our super-rich folks just don?t dig deep enough into the well of philanthropy.
Simultaneously, we have also seen the emergence of a more powerful, forceful philanthropic narrative?the latest instalment of which involves Mani Bhaumik contributing a multi-million dollar advanced research centre to his alma mater IIT-Kharagpur. But whatever giving may follow, a Mumbai mangrove is pretty much in a league of its own. Even Gates-Buffett don?t have something as extraordinary in their giving bank.