Navi Mumbai's DPS Flamingo Lake to be saved as Conservation Reserve

Navi Mumbai: The 30-acre DPS Flamingo Lake at Nerul in Navi Mumbai, which has seen a spate of pink bird deaths earlier this year, will be maintained as a conservation reserve, information obtained under the Right To Information (RTI) Act shows.

A decision to this effect was taken by the state government-appointed high-power committee that went into the ways to protect the flamingo abode following a hue and cry by environmentalists.

Accordingly, the State Mangrove Cell will make a recommendation to the government to treat the lake as a conservation reserve, the information received by NatConnect Foundation said.

As many as 17 flamingos have died at the lake – seven in January as they crashed into a giant sign board built for the now defunct Nerul jetty and 10 in May after the lake was rendered dry due to the blocking of the water flow – NatConnect Director B N Kumar recalled.

The Committee was appointed in July with a brief to suggest ways to protect the natural flamingo destination following an assurance by the then State Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on the floor of the legislative assembly. The committee surveyed the lake and finalised its recommendations on September 23. But they were not yet made public. NatConnect Foundation has, hence, sought the details of the committee recommendations.

A key decision of the committee was that the Mangrove Cell, while making the recommendation for declaring the DPS Flamingo Lake as a Conservation reserve, would incorporate the BNHS study on the flamingos at the lake and refer it to the Wildlife Institute at Dehradun.

CIDCO, which was part of the Committee, has argued at the committee meeting that the issue of developing the DPS Flamingo Lake is pending at the Supreme Court, the RTI information says.

The Bombay High Court had in November 2018 ordered CIDCO to protect the wetland and directed the city planner to remove all debris from the lake.

The state committee, however, asked CIDCO not to harm the lake and continue to allow the intertidal water flow through points 3 and 4 at the lake.

The wetland, however, is in a very poor shape with stagnant water and plenty of moss and garbage as the water flow was blocked again by vested interests, NatCionnect complained to the CM and the Mangrove Cell.

Meanwhile, the Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has taken suo motu notice of the flamingo deaths and asked the western zonal bench to seek explanations from various authorities.

NatConnect has filed an intervention application at the NGT seeking a directive to CIDCO to preserve the wetland and allow Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) to conserve it in association with the BNHS. CIDCO earmarked the lake area “for future development” in its Development Plan which NatConnect has vehemently opposed and lodged a protest with the Chief Minister.

The NGT hearing is scheduled for next month.

Hailing the committee’s decision to protect the DPS Lake, Kumar said this will go a long way in maintaining the identity of Navi Mumbai as the flamingo city and its biodiversity.

“This is also the result of the collective efforts made by the environmentalists and we sincerely hope that the recommendation will be followed through to conserve the lake,” said Sandeep Sareen of Navi Mumbai Environmental Preservation Society (NMEPS).