Launching a campaign to save 130 wetlands identified in Raigad district, environmental groups have appealed to the State Government to thoroughly review all the lands allotted by CIDCO to projects such as Navi Mumbai International Airport, JNPT and Navi Mumbai SEZs.
In their social media campaign called #Time4Wetlands launched ahead of the World Environment Day, the groups NatConnect Foundation and Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan, have sought to stir up the Mumbai people’s conscience and the government machinery and protect the bio-diversity from the clutches of the greedy developers.
The Raigad district collector had identified 130 wetlands which the state mangrove/wetlands committee wanted to protect but the tragedy is that most of them have been allotted by CIDCO for various projects, said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation.
“We fully support the recent move by the state mangrove cell to take over the wetlands at Belpada, Bhendkhal, Panje and Talawe as the bio-diversity has to be protected,” Kumar said and pointed out that there are many more such properties that need to be protected.
JNPT has already destroyed Dastan Phata wetland under the pretext of building houses for the project affected people (PAP) and another major stretch of wetland is now being buried, said Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan.
CIDCO does not seem to respect the nature, Pawar said and pointed out that the other project proponents like JNPT and Navi Mumbai SEZ too care two hoots for bio-diversity.
BNHS in its Baseline survey of Birds at the Proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport 2015 said that a number of potential habitats will be destroyed in the near future due to rapid development and land use pattern changes in Navi Mumbai and the adjoining areas in Raigad district, especially due to the projects such as the proposed Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), and the expansion project of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).
For example, Belpada Wetland at Uran, where a large number of Ducks, Storks, and Egrets congregated, was recently land filled. Impact of such habitat changes on the distribution of congregating birds needed to be studied, BNHS said.
In the wake of the coronavirus attack the world over, the focus is majorly shifting towards protecting the nature, Kumar said and appealed to the government not to neglect this aspect. “We are paying heavy price for playing with the nature,” he said pointing out the repeated floods in MMR.
Wetlands act as urban sponges and help in flood control mechanism apart from holding water that helps the fishing community to survive. A number of migratory and local birds make wetlands their destination for small fish and algae that grow in wetlands, Pawar explained.
The burial of wetlands has already begun to show its affect endangering the lives of the people, he said and asked: what is the point in developing projects?
Kumar said: “We are not against any development or infrastructure projects that contribute to the local and national economy. But it should not come at the cost of environment which could have long-term detrimental impact. There should be a proper balance between the environment and development.”
The groups also drew the attention of the government and the mangrove committee to the continuous burning of mangroves the Kharghar-Khandeshwar stretch. Though CIDCO is supposed to be in-charge of the area, it does not take any action. The mangrove forests ought to have been transferred to the Forest department long ago.