MUMBAI, June 25 -- Six months after the Bombay High Court permitted the felling of 45,675 mangroves for the proposed Versova Bhayandar Coastal Road citing "demonstrably required public interest", the court on Wednesday sought a status report from the state government on compensatory afforestation linked to the project. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V Ghuge and Justice Gautam A Ankhad said that since the afforestation process had already commenced - as mentioned in the court's December 2025 order allowing the felling of mangroves - the concerned forest authority should place a status report before the court first. The court was hearing an interim application moved by the nonprofit Vanashakti, expressing the need for an "independent inspection" by a statutory committee. Appearing for Vanashakti, senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond and advocate Ronita Bhattacharya-Bector said the official website of the state forest department claims that the entire afforestation exercise linked to the coastal road has been completed. It is necessary to examine and verify whether any plantation has actually been carried out and whether it is ecologically viable, the lawyers said....