Navi Mumbai: Responding to greens' complaint against the blocking of water flow to the 30-acre DPS Flamingo Lake rendering it filthy with stagnant water, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the Forest department to take action.
A high-level committee headed by Forest Secretary Venugopal Reddy has earlier decided to recommend the protection of the DPS Lake as a conservation reserve and asked CIDCO ensure uninterrupted water flow to in and out of the wetland.
Yet, the lake, which has been attracting hundreds of flamingos, is now full of moss and muck as the water flow has been blocked for a few months, NatConnect Foundation complained to the CM and top officials.
“We are happy that Devendra Fadnavis acted promptly and asked Reddy to take appropriate action,” said NatConnect director B N Kumar and expressed the hope that the wetland would again be flamingo-fit.
It is essential to preserve the migratory bird destinations such as the DPS Lake and NRI, TS Chanakya and Panje wetlands to avoid bird strike threats to the aircraft at the Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), Kumar said quoting BNHS study reports.
The birds could land at mudflats around the airport if the birds are unable to land at the wetlands that they are used to during high tides at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS) – a fact noted in the environmental impact assessment report submitted by the Adani airports to the Centre – Kumar said.
But the ground reality, even after more than three months of the DPS Lake Committee’s decision, the 30-acre wetland continues to be in a terrible shape, Sandeep Sareen of Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society, said.
Flamingos have started arriving into TCFS, though in very small numbers, but the DPS Lake, one of resting places for the pink birds during the hightide, is not in a fit condition, said Jyoti Nadkarni, convenor of Kharghar Wetlands and Hills forum.
The environmentalists, have therefore called for removal of the debris, earth from the inlets on both eastern and western sides; digging the channel one or two feet down and refix the cement pipes; maintaining security to check the water flow; sensitise the local community, too, to alert against any future violations and above all, launch inquiry into the persistent, consistent sabotage of the flamingo abode.
