Sir,

We congratulate you on your entry into the Ministry of Environment and also appreciate greatly your positive response to NDTV's "Save the Beaches" campaign. One of the stories that was telecast as a part of this series was on the Mundra coast and the extensive destruction of mangroves of the Gulf of Kutch. You can watch the story on the http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/new/Ndtv-Show-Special.aspx?ID=169

The issue of Mangroves being destroyed, fishing communities' access to the sea being curtailed, creeks being blocked and marine ecosystem being under severe pressure in our region as a result of the Adani Group of companies' three SEZs has been brought to the Minsitry of Environment and Forests on a regular basis through petitions and memoranda by us and other environmental action groups but there has been no action or response. Instead the MoEF has continued to give clearances to the various activities/ projects for the port based SEZ and thermal power plants. The lives and livelihoods of our people, more than 1000 fishing families along the Mundra coast stand threatened due to unregulated expansion and concretisation along the coast. The violations of environmental norms and callous attitude of the Gujarat government and Forest Department towards us has brought us in a state of despair.

The Wagher community, the pagadiya (on foot) fishermen and women, who live off the gifts of the sea will soon be on the verge of extinction if our coast is not saved and their customary rights not protected.

We, the undersigned, urge you to look into the matter at the earliest and take appropriate steps to address the issues raised.