Navi Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asks for action against filthy water in DPS flamingo lake

Flamingos have started arriving at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary. File pic

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the state forest department to act against the blocking of fresh water flow to the DPS flamingo lake in Navi Mumbai. The blocking has rendered the 30-acre lake with filthy and stagnant water, which is home to hundreds of flamingos. The direction comes following complaints raised by environmentalists and environmental conservationists and experts.

A high-level committee headed by Forest Secretary Venugopal Reddy had earlier decided to recommend the protection of the DPS lake as a conservation reserve and asked CIDCO to ensure uninterrupted water flow to 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, according to a complaint raised by the NatConnect Foundation to the chief minister and other top state officials.

NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar, however, thanked the chief minister and expressed the hope that the wetland would again be flamingo-fit. "We are happy that Devendra Fadnavis acted promptly and asked Reddy to take appropriate action," he said. The environmentalists had earlier raised complaints that the 600-metre road that is being constructed by the CIDCO between the 30-acre area of mangroves and the wetland will lead to environmental destruction. NatConnect had earlier complained to the state as well as the Centre that CIDCO's project violates the CRZ norms.

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.

Sandeep Sareen of the Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society said that even after more than three months of the DPS lake Committee's decision, the wetland continues to be in terrible shape. Flamingos have started arriving at TCFS (Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary), though in very small numbers, but the DPS lake, one of the resting places for the pink birds during the high tide, is not in a fit condition, said Jyoti Nadkarni, convenor of the Kharghar Wetlands and Hills forum.

Kumar said that flamingos would land at mudflats around the airport if not in the wetlands during high tides at the TCFS - a fact noted in the environmental impact assessment report submitted by the Adani airports to the Centre.

The environmentalists have also called for the removal of the debris, earth from the inlets on both eastern and western sides, digging the channel one or two feet down and refixing the cement pipes, maintaining security to check the water flow, sensitising the local community to alert against any future violations and above all, launch inquiry into the persistent and consistent sabotage of the flamingo abode.