An image showing flamingoes.
Credit: Special Arrangement
Navi Mumbai: The DPS flamingo lake in Navi Mumbai is brimming with activity again with the inter tidal water entering the 30-acre wetland with full force after the repairs to two channels connecting a drain from the Thane creek.
Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has successfully cleared the water channels blocked by vested interests and now the water is gushing in and out.
This is part of the recommendations made by a high-level committee that went into the ways to conserve the flamingo destination following the spate of bird deaths during January-May 2024, NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar recalled.
Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, who took a keen interest in restoring the lake, has earlier asked the NMMC and CIDCO officials to clear the blocks in the two channels. NMMC engineers have not only cleared the clogs, but lowered the pipes so that water enters and exits with the tidal flow.
As per the committee’s suggestion, the state government has recently decided to give a conservation reserve status to the DPS flamingo lake, Kumar said and stressed the need to formalize it with a gazette order.
“We hope that the city will soon witness a full-fledged flamingo tourism,” Kumar said.
With freshwater inflow, hundreds of flamingos have begun to return to the lake which in turn enthused bird watchers with their mobile and DSLR cameras to throng the wetland area.
“This is the scene that we have been longing to witness,” said avid bird watcher Satish Dabral.
“We are sure that even the NRI wetland which is dirty with stagnant water will also be declared as a conservation reserve,” said author-writer Jayant Hudar.
“With Naik’s efforts, Navi Mumbai will be able to not only justify the flamingo city tag but will turn pink,” said Sandeep Sareen of Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society (NMEPS) that has been fighting legal battles to save the wetlands.