Land grab, blocked tides threaten T S Chanakya flamingo habitat in Navi Mumbai

Navi Mumbai: The condition of 14-hectare intertidal wetland near T S Chanakya, Nerul, once an important feeding ground for migratory flamingos, rapidly deteriorated after tidal channels were blocked and parts of the waterbody were encroached upon for fishponds, said environmentalists. Wooden barricades were placed across narrow tidal inlets that normally allowed Thane creek water to flow in and out of the wetland. Greens alleged the obstruction disrupted natural tidal flushing system that sustained the ecosystem, and the waterbody is now covered with a thick carpet of algae, signalling stagnation and declining ecological health.Environmental watchdog NatConnect Foundation lodged a complaint with the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, calling for urgent intervention to restore the damaged wetland. "The wetland today presents a pathetic picture with algae growth, encroachments and blocked water channels. In its present condition, it is hardly ready to support flamingos," said NatConnect director B N Kumar.Greens said the ecological importance of T S Chanakya wetland was officially recognised after it was listed in the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment, a satellite-mapped database of significant wetlands prepared by the Union environment ministry.Greens added that the site was also among thousands of wetlands documented by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, which tracked coastal ecosystems. Despite this recognition, activists said administrative inaction allowed the habitat to degrade. They said the wetland fell under the jurisdiction of the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), which declined a proposal from the state Mangrove Cell to take over the site for protection under wildlife laws.Activists said Cidco also did not respond to a request from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC), seeking to manage the wetland as part of an eco-tourism circuit along with the nearby NRI and DPS flamingo lakes. "Cidco is neither removing encroachments nor allowing other agencies to maintain the wetland," said Nandakumar Pawar of Sagar Shakti. Cidco refused to acknowledge that it is a wetland.Pawar also cited a Supreme Court ruling in a case filed by Vanashakti, which held that govts had a duty to conserve wetlands larger than 2.25 hectares, a category the T S Chanakya wetland clearly fell into. Calling the situation a serious threat to coastal biodiversity, activists urged the Centre to step in immediately to restore tidal flows and remove encroachments before the damage became irreversible.