The committee of the Forest department has been suggested to instruct the planning authorities to not allow any high rise buildings in the flight path of the flamingos of the city, by the city activists. The committee formed by the forest department is to conduct a detailed study on ways to preserve the wetlands in Navi Mumbai frequented by Flamingos, the report of which would be submitted to the state government.
The nine-member committee was formed on July 5. The primary objective of the committee was to study the measures to be implemented at the DPS lake to ensure that flamingos visiting the area are not disturbed. The committee is required to submit the detailed report on their findings within two months of the forming of the committee.
“The committee is going to submit its report within the next ten days. It is necessary that the committee is informed of the policy decision that needs to be taken to preserve the lake,” said NatConnect director, BN Kumar. Kumar has accordingly informed the committee to include in its report to disallow changed to the areas demarcated as wetlands in the proposed Development plan of the city. “There should be no attempt from planning authority to modify wetland areas in the DP. If DPS lake has to be safeguarded then it has to be a policy decision,” said Kumar.
In the letter addressed, the activist has also sought from the committee to instruct the planning authorities to not allow any high rise buildings in the flight path of the birds. Likewise, Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is also to be asked to file quarterly compliance reports with both the environment and forest department. “The committee was formed to study the means to not just preserve the wetlands of the city but also identify ways to conserve the natural habitats. NMMC being the planning authority, needs to be held accountable for any possible violations in the area and policy decisions are needed to prevent any form of encroachments,” added the activist.
Kumar has further emphasised that the 30-acre lake is protected by the Bombay High Court judgement dated 1-11-2018 under which CIDCO and NMMC are supposed to jointly monitor the waterbody. "It serves as an urban sponge and as holding pond – a natural flood mitigation mechanism - for the neighbourhood that includes the DPS School and the Seawoods NRI housing complex. It is home to not only flamingos but several other migratory and local birds," he added.
Criticising the planning authority, Kumar has said that CIDCO has by blocked free flow of tidal water while constructing the passenger water transport terminal, 500 mtr away from the lake and violated their own undertaking of preserving the water body.
"CIDCO has transferred 24 lakes in the NMMC area and it is not handing over the three major wetlands – DPS, NRI and TS Chanakya. All these three water bodies are major wetlands as their sizes are much more than 2.5 hectares and they must be conserved," Kumar added.
Dumping of debris into the lake and the mangrove area is another major concern Kumar pointed out in his mail to the committee.
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