By IANS,
New Delhi : The union environment and forests ministry Tuesday issued notice to the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) for destroying mangroves in Ernakulam district to construct a cricket stadium.
According to the ministry, KCA said that there were no mangroves at the site though photographic evidence available with it showed that there were mangroves at the site till Sep 3 but these had been removed by Sep 22.
“The mangroves appear to have been removed to a large extent by the KCA which is in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification and the site is an important bird area,” the ministry said in its notice.
The ministry said that KCA violated the notification by land reclamation, disturbing the natural course of sea water, destruction of mangroves, construction and development activities.
The Kerala forest department is already investigating the destruction of mangroves in 23.5 hectares of land and a first information report (FIR) has been registered.
The ministry has asked the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA) to take appropriate action against the violators and submit an action taken report within 15 days.