Living on the edge…
Within hours the city was underwater. Nature had taken back the reclaimed land. Nothing could withstand the power of nature this time; not even the city of dreams. Mumbai was struck by a great tsunami. The evacuated city now dusted to the sea bed.
The rising level of water was alarming that had given quite a lot of warnings to the city. The Mumbaikars were finally evacuated out. The remarkable architectural skyline of the city- colonial buildings, numerous sea links, airports, iconic structures and museums, institutions, holy buildings, grand promenades, waterfronts were left back to sink. The ever-running local trains and metros had nowhere to run either. Traumatized millionaires and billionaires reluctant to leave their empires were dragged out with the help of the police rescue force. The entire city silently surrendered to the ferocious Arabian Sea, and nature takes over.
Horrified by the nightmare, Avicennia woke up frantic. Her heart was racing fast and her leaves were sweaty. Finally, she caught her breath, wiping off the sweat dews from her leaves, she then laid back on her marshy bed. She was exhausted by the rigorous work done for the past 30 years, yet she was anxious about tomorrow’s challenge. She couldn’t sleep, she looked around, and her fellow groves were in a deep sleep. She smiled, she was proud of the close-knit mangrove community that she was a part of.
It was 2050, Avicennia looked back at the past 30 years-
The city was at its highest glory. There was an economic boom. Ambitious waterfront projects were at its peak. The city had a place for everyone whoever landed here with a dream.
Another broken glass bottle hit Avicennia’s roots, bleeding and choking. I can’t see my family suffer this pain, exclaimed Avicennia. It pained equally in her heart and veins. Human activities had turned the mangroves in dumping grounds. Back then Avicennia had a huge family that included around 16 species of mangroves and associated plants. Her extended family was yet bigger and precious to her. Numerous birds, insects, mammals dwelled with her. Several species of crabs, fish, prawns, snakes, and other aquatic animals formed her extended family. Her family was bigger, it was dense and stronger back then. Over the years large volume of garbage was being dumped in the groves. Her community was killed a terrible death. Avicennia and her close ones were striving hard to live.
A daily visitor, a young girl had got a few friends with her that day. Delighted Avicennia took her friends to explore the magical world of groves. She showed them the paradise of diverse flora and fauna that were enveloped. She revealed her aerial roots also called Pencil roots. Some species had the buttress roots at the base that offered support in loose soil. A few species had stilt roots that started from the trunk base and fell into the soil providing support to the plant. The roots are strong to handle the thrust of the sea water during the high-low tide explained Avicennia.
As the young visitors keenly looked around, Avicennia could feel something pricking on her distant root. She tried to ignore the pain but her eyes were filled with tears. The daily visitor could see the grave pain Avicennia was going through. She quietly went close to her and asked dearly what was bothering Avicennia. Avicennia broke in tears and wept in the laps of the young girl. She told about the discarded plastic bags, wrappers, and bottles and much of this waste ends up in the wetlands, polluting, clogging, and choking the roots of the mangroves surrounding the island city. The biggest threats that we are facing are the disposal of waste. A lot of this waste you see is not going to decompose for hundreds of years, and some of it will never decompose, exclaimed Avicennia. Mangroves are cut, the land is reclaimed in the name of development. She was losing hope and life day by day, minute by minute.
While discussing this, a group of men approached. A tall man pointed towards Avicennia and said something to his group. Avicennia couldn’t properly hear the indistinctive discussion. Some papers were exchanged. Probably map of the grove. Another deal was done!
Avicennia couldn’t sleep that night. The thoughts about the deal kept coming and she grew restless. They were the last of the mangroves thriving around the island. The next day she saw the same men approaching along with a few other young people. Avicennia was surprised, she was expecting the men armed with cutting machinery. The deal was done; not to cut the grove, but to regenerate the grove. Yes, a rejuvenation and regeneration deal was done. The plan was to build a fort of Mangroves around the island city. Delighted with joy, Avicennia helped the people with cleaning up the garbage. Then the men discussed their plan with Avicennia. She was overjoyed and helped them with all the information on viviparous regeneration. The plan was executed meticulously. The city of dreams had fulfilled Avicennia’s dreams as well. She was glad and could breathe after years.
And today lying in her bed, Avicennia looked at the fully grown Mangroves. Her heart filled with pride. She knew her roots had their strength. The soldiers were ready to act as a natural barrier against sea-level rise and coastal flooding, apart from providing numerous other ecosystem services…
According to the weather forecast, the cyclone was to hit in the next 15 hours. Her mighty soldiers were ready for that as well.
The city and the groves co-existed. The people had generated a special bond with the mangroves now. Mumbai was ready for any kind of storm now.
The city flourished further along with nature and not at the cost of nature.
