While the fishing community in the taluka complains of fast receding volume of their catch, the farmers of chiku and date palm are being forced to give up their cultivation due to increased salinity ingress.

The taluka had earned the reputation of the greenest in the arid Kutch district due to its mangrove cover. It was a leading producer of chiku and date palm. "The semi arid climate used to be excellent for farming of both chiku and dates," said Mahendra Gadvi, Sarpanch, Bhujpara village. "Mundra and Mandavi were the only talukas in the district, which had abundant supply of drinking water, a sine-qua-non for chiku farming," he added.

He said the plundering of mangrove began in the 1990s and by 2005, the water turned saline, forcing many of the farmers to stop farming, as the increased salinity resulted into lowering the output. "Many farmers are now cutting the chiku plants off," he added.

The fishing communities too are now bearing the brunt of the plunder. "Our boys are now being forced to venture deeper in the sea as most of the fish species, which used to breed in the shallow backwaters of mangrove have already vanished. Our catch has gone down by at least 50 per cent," said Kasam Hasam Jam, a leader of the fishing community at Mundra.

The taluka has a population of over 1,000 families with more than 10,000 people dependant on fishing. "Although we have been struggling for our rights with the SEZ authorities for quite some time now, but this is an issue, which needs an immediate attention. Otherwise, we will be lose our livelihood completely," he added.

Mangroves serve as a natural barrier for saline and sweet water with sweet water always floating over saline water due to its less specific gravity, said Yogesh Jadeja, a Bhuj-based researcher on water issues.

"While the plant itself digests water, it also collects silt through its roots, which helps the percolation of sweet water to the ground, recharging the ground water," he said. He added: "In Mundra, while on the one hand a huge amount of groundwater has been exploited by the upcoming power plant there, the plundering of mangroves is only worsening the situation," he added.

He warned that with the barrier between sweet and salt water breaking down, the impacts would be much drastic and quick.

The state forest department has, meanwhile, agreed to give 1,840 hectares of mangrove area to the Adani group for the SEZ out of its remaining 5,333 hectares of mangrove-covered area for 'non forest use'.

"The decision on principle was cleared by the Government of India in 2004," said P R Sakarvadia, the range forest officer posted at Mundra. "So far, the plundering of mangroves has taken place on revenue land. We had drawn the attention of the local mamlatdar towards this issue, but to no result. But now as it concerns the forest land, we have asked them not to touch the mangroves," he added.

Gujarat Principal Secretary Forests and Environment PN Roy Chowdhuri, however, denied the plundering issue. He said that between 2003 and 2005, Gujarat is the only state to have increased its mangrove cover.

"We have gone up from 1940 to 1960 sq km of mangrove area, most of which is in the Gulf of Kutch," he said, adding that no other state could add a single km to their existing mangrove cover within this period. The quality has also bettered over the time, he claimed.