Notwithstanding the tall claims of replenishing the lost mangroves, the government of Sindh has failed to even resist the temptation of selling land reserved for developing a mangrove forest on the sea coast of Karachi. This was disclosed by the federal Minister for Environment at a conference organised under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme at Kaka Peru village on the outskirts of Karachi. The minister revealed that out of 110,000 acres of land reserved for developing mangroves, 11,000 acres have already been sold by the provincial government to the builders' mafia for developing various housing schemes. The minister further asked the provincial government to cancel the sale immediately and also stated that in view of the enormity of the problem, he will raise this question before the federal cabinet. At a time when the local authorities make daily declarations of trying to transform the metropolis into a modern city, their apathy towards the fast vanishing coastal assets at the hands of builders' mafia is most astonishing. The unbridled and unchecked depletion of mangroves, through large-scale brush clearing and discharge of untreated industrial waste/effluents into the sea is playing havoc with our coastline. Mangrove forests are safety valves for harbours and hatcheries of various kinds of marine life whose export earns us billions of rupees. Besides, these forests are nature's purification plants that not only provide oxygen, thereby working as the lungs of the environment but also work as a barricade against high tides. -SHAFQAT HUSSAIN QURESHI, Hyderabad, via e-mail May 19.