Centre takes up CIDCO Lotus Lake burial with State Env Dept as greens raise alarm

Navi Mumbai: Quickly responding to NatConnect Foundation’s complaint against the state government-owned City Industrial and Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO)’s attempts to bury the three-hectare Lotus Lake, a verified wetland at Nerul in Navi Mumbai, the Centre has taken up the issue with the Maharashtra government’s Environment Department.

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MOEFCC) responded within half an hour of NatConnect director B. N. Kumar registering the complaint to the MOEFCC through the PMO Public Grievance (PMOPG) website.

In the response posted on the site, Pankaj Verma, Scientist-F in the MOEFCC’s Wetland Division, said, “Taken up.”

Verma asked the state environment director, Abhay Madhukar Pimparkar, to act on the complaint.

Appreciating the Wetland Division of the MOEFCC for its prompt action, Kumar expressed the hope that the state Environment Department will act with equal speed, since CIDCO is hell-bent on burying the wetland within 15 days, for which the planner has sought police security.

Kumar, in his filing, reminded the MOEFCC of its directive to all States and UTs to protect wetlands as per the Supreme Court ruling, identified by the Space Application Centre (SAC) under the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment (NWIA).

Lotus Lake is part of the 564 wetlands inspected and documented by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) under the state government’s mandate, preparatory for the long-pending notification of the wetlands, Kumar said, quoting information received by him under the RTI Act.

Moreover, the Bombay High Court has accorded protection to the Lotus Lake in two PILs filed by Pradeep Patole. The High Court asked CIDCO to clear debris from the lake in one case; the court disposed of the second petition regarding encroachments at the lake after the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation gave an undertaking to clear the illegal occupations.

Disregarding these, CIDCO has awarded a contract to a private contractor, TIPL, owned by an influential politician, to lift debris arising out of the construction of Navi Mumbai International Airport and dump it on the wetland.

As the dumping started, environment lovers protested, and the High Court-appointed Wetland Committee directed CIDCO to stop the landfill following a complaint from Vanashakti.

Undeterred, CIDCO has sought police protection to finish the landfill within 15 days, Kumar said, and informed the Centre: “This is a dangerous development for our biodiversity and maintaining ecological balance.”

“We are all aware of the fact that, as it is, the wetlands are fast disappearing, and we must do whatever little that we are left with,” NatConnect said.