India, May 16 -- Observing that the upgradation of the Revas-Reddi Coastal Highway was a project of "public importance" aimed at improving road connectivity between Maharashtra and Goa, the Bombay High Court recently permitted the diversion of 0.4479 hectares of mangroves and the felling of 75 mangroves. The court, however, asked the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the project proponent, to submit an affidavit in four weeks stating that turtle nesting sites along the project route would be protected and no construction activity would be carried out during the turtle nesting season from October to March.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the MSRDC seeking the court's nod to divert and fell the mangroves. Th...