Maharashtra govt seeks reports on Lotus Lake as CIDCO tries to bury the wetland

In a significant development, the Maharashtra Government has sought reports from the Thane district collector and City Industrial and Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd (CIDCO) on attempts to bury Lotus Lake, a verified three-hectare wetland at Nerul in Navi Mumbai, information received under the Right To Information (RTI) Act shows.

This follows the Centre’s directive to the State Environment Department to act on NatConnect Foundation’s complaint against CIDCO for dumping on the lake the debris and soil arising out of the construction of Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA).

Navi Mumbai-based environmentalists have flagged the issue with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Earlier on June 11, NatConnect director B N Kumar registered a complaint addressed to the MOEFCC through the PMO public grievance (PMOPG) website as CIDCO was hell bent on burying the lake at Sector-27, Nerul, Navi Mumbai.

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

Verma, through an email, also asked the state environment director Abhay Madhukar Pimparkar to act on the complaint.

In its follow-up with the state Environment Department, Kumar has sought information, via the RTI Act route, on the action taken after the MOEFCC directive.

The environment, in turn, informed Kumar that the State has sought reports from the Thane district collector and CIDCO through separate letters on June 13.

“This clearly shows the series of serious official correspondence pertaining to Lotus Lake and not a mere routine government response,” Kumar asserted.

NatConnect and others will follow through till Lotus Lake is saved as “we have an irrefutable official record, again obtained through the RTI Act, on the wetland status of the three-hectare lake,” Kumar said.

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.

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).

Moreover, the Bombay High Court has accorded protection to the Lotus Lake in two PILs filed by adv Pradeep Patole.

The High Court asked CIDCO to clear debris from the Lake in one case.

The court disposed of the 2nd 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.