The Centre has asked the Maharashtra government to address on priority concerns raised by climate activists over the decline of flamingo habitats as wetlands in Navi Mumbai turn toxic.
On World Water Day on Sunday, the activists flagged the deteriorating condition of the DPS, NRI, and T S Chanakya lakes at Nerul, which serve as satellite wetlands for the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS), a Ramsar site.
They sounded a ‘wetland emergency’, as the three key flamingo habitats in Navi Mumbai have turned toxic, with tests of water samples revealing alarming results.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), in its response on Monday, asked the Maharashtra State Wetland Authority to address the grievance on priority and submit its action taken report to both the complainant and the Centre.
It cited the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, under which discharge of untreated waste and effluents, dumping of solid and construction waste, encroachment, and any alteration of the ecological character of wetlands are prohibited.
Flamingo season in Navi Mumbai is from November to May, with January to March seen as the peak viewing time, as bird lovers and enthusiasts gather at wetlands to catch a glimpse of the pink parade.
Water sample tests commissioned by the NatConnect Foundation indicate a system under severe stress, activists stated in messages sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
The warning is reinforced by the absence of flamingos, which have not arrived this season, said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation.
Four basic indicators — TDS, pH, BOD and COD — paint a consistent picture of decline. The results showed over-concentrated, stagnant water rather than natural tidal flushing.
“Put simply, all four indicators tell the same story—the water is not moving as it should in a healthy intertidal wetland,” Kumar said, pointing to blocked or restricted tidal flow.
Instead of being regularly flushed, the wetlands are turning into stagnant, polluted basins. The City And Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is “largely responsible for what has happened,” climate activist Nandakumar Pawar said, adding that regulators such as the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and the forest department have “simply looked the other way”.
The wetlands, he warned, are a public asset being destroyed in plain sight.
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