JOIN USFlamingos throng Mumbai as human activities dip
As human activities cease the presence of majestic flamingos in Mumbai has increased manifold.
Forest department officials, NGOs, environmentalists over the past fortnight has reported huge flocks of flamingos on the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR).
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Director Dr Deepak Apte said, "Last year, in the studies, conducted simultaneously in various parts of MMR, we have reported around 1.20 lakh flamingos. This year, from the images that we got, we estimate the presence of around 1.5 lakh flamingos," said Dr Apte.
Conservationists said that it's a delight to see the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary.
The Talawe wetland near Seawoods NRI complex in Navi Mumbai, which local planner CIDCO sought to bury for a gold course, has begun to witness an increased number of flamingo bird flights, thanks to the lockdown.
The wetland where bird lovers used to visit in their cars and with photographic equipment, is a silent zone now thanks to the ban on movement of people and vehicles, explained bird watcher Shruti Agrawal who stays at Seawoods. “Now from our balconies, we get a beautiful view and we are able to keep a track of the birds’ landing and taking off,” she said.
“We can say at least 15,000 to 20,000 birds are flocking the wetland this season,” said Shruti’s husband Sunil.
The couple has been fighting a legal battle to save the wetland and have it declared as a flamingo sanctuary.
“It is a bird watchers’ paradise,” said another enthusiast Sandeep Bangia who has been regularly capturing the flamingo flights on his DSLR camera.
The destruction of wetlands in Uran by Navi Mumbai SEZ and JNPT SEZ has also disturbed the bird flights and the flamingos appear to flock Talawe in increased numbers, said B N Kumar, Director, NatConnect Foundation, who has been running a campaign to save Uran wetlands.
Environmentalists say the construction on Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) at Sewree, another flamingo site, is also responsible for the birds finding the Talawe alternative. MTHL is planned to connect Mumbai with Uran via the Arabian Sea route.
Flamingos were first spotted in Mumbai in 1994. In fact, the two types of birds of this species Greater flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) and Lesser flamingoes (Phoenicopterus minor) are seen here prompting BNHS-India and other agencies to protect the environs and help in promoting wildlife tourism in this megapolis.
They start arriving in October, nesting in mud-flats and leave before the onset of monsoon.