How Navi Mumbai activists protect flamingos from a capitalist nexus

Amidst the burgeoning metropolis of Mumbai the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary has emerged as Indiarsquos first Ramsar site 2022 to get listed within an urban landscape This listing in the Ramsar Convention mandates a national policy framework and international liaison to safeguard the wetlandrsquos ecologyldquoThe illegitimate filling up of water bodies at Talawe wetlands in Navi Mumbai is causing ecodestruction compelling flamingos to search for another habitatrdquo observes Neeraj Chawla a citybased birder and green activist Neeraj has been documenting the displacement of flamingos for the last five years He notes that their population is declining owing to rampant development activities unfolding at the Navi Mumbai coastThe vast wetland is spread across Mumbai Navi Mumbai and Thane spanning a total area of 16905 hectares Owing to the rich biodiversity it houses it falls under the migratory route of flamingos which stopover to find wintering grounds ldquoThe wetlands harbours a diverse fauna of not just flamingos but several resident and migratory birdsrdquo shares Pawan Sharma wildlife rescuer from Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare RAWWTo find out how flamingos are threatened by deep pocket projects Midday Online spoke to citybased green activists flamingo researchers and wetland champions on the battle between ecology and developmentCapitalist networks vs flamingo habitatThe Navi Mumbai International Airport project spearheaded by the Adani Group presents a glaring challenge to the arearsquos ecology ldquoWater levels are being raised by filling up the lakes and small hillocks are being flattened with blasts to make way for the aspirational airportrdquo shares Neeraj Apart from ecodestruction the blasts have also caused a menace of noise and air pollution sparking dissent from local citizens In some cases the hill blasting has led to cracks in the windows of residential apartmentsBut the apathy doesnrsquot stop here The environmental clearance obtained by Navi Mumbai International Airport Limited NMIAL puts a question to the assessment procedures conducted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests amp Climate Change MoEF amp CC Despite a mandate to protect the migratory destination of flamingos NMIAL continues to violate the wetlands at NRI and T S Chanakya harming the rich biodiverse home of several migratory birdsldquoThrough silent actions they are ensuring that flamingos stop coming to these wetlandsrdquo says Sunil Agarwal the legal custodian and champion of the Wetlands in Navi Mumbai As a result flamingo city is undergoing a decline in flamingo population as compared to 133 lakh flamingos spotted in Thane Creek last year Sunil credits this onslaught of development to the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra CIDCO the body that entirely planned and built Navi Mumbai starting in the early 1970sldquoCIDCOrsquos ageold urban planning techniques have amounted to a huge ecological cost Though the city had huge potential to build with nature it has failed to do sordquo says Sunil Fifty years of urbanisation has resulted in damaging the marshy lands lakes salt pans mangroves and the habitat of the cityrsquos pride the flamingoCIDCO denies the existence of wetlandsCIDCO has acquired these wetlands In 2009 CIDCO entered into an agreement with Mistry Constructions Adani Group company to build a golf course and residential apartments in the adjoining Seawoods Wetlands As a result CIDCO in partnership with Mistry began violating the ecologically rich coastline of Navi Mumbai and denying the existence of wetlandsUnfriendly acts by CIDCO against nature included killing mangroves dumping debris in lakes and blocking water flow into lakes Consequently the rising water levels changed the intertidal flow of water bodies forcing flamingos to migrate away from Talawe wetlands ldquoNot surprisingly the fact that the 3555hectare golf course project was going to be sitting on wetlands that were frequented by thousands of birds doesnrsquot seem to have bothered themrdquo remarks SunilTo mitigate the ecological disaster green activists from the city petitioned against CIDCOrsquos environmental violations in the Supreme Court The courtrsquos verdict came in favour of the green activists and a rule to protect the wetlands was mandated quashing CIDCOrsquos grand plans to make a golf course and residential towers says Sunil Now these wetlands are not only protected by a Supreme Court order but by the new Coastal Regulation Zone CRZ rules as wellldquoCIDCO knows that these wetlands are protected by the Supreme Court order itselfrdquo Despite that they appealed for interim relief at the Supreme Court in 2019 In rhetoric Sunil asks ldquoWhich Supreme Court will give them relief now that a notification has been passed halting any construction in protected areasrdquo So their lawyers stopped coming to the hearing for 45 years to delay the mandate After dodging the hearing for years CIDCO has served the notice and now the conflict is resolved informs SunilChallenges against wetland protectionSunil hopes that the hearing will be done soon and the wetlands will eventually be saved However there are certain discrepancies that weaken his efforts The halfbaked order by Supreme Court fails to list down the regulatory body responsible for safeguarding these wetlands As a result these wetlands remain vulnerable to the land mafia nexusThere have been instances where the local residents spotted Mistryrsquos security guards patrolling the wetlands ldquoThey donrsquot do anything visibly but carry malicious intent to disrupt the natural habitatrdquo shares Sunil These guards incite local fishermen to raise water levels which creates a domino effect on the arearsquos ecology The water levels rise submerging crustaceans which are the primary food for flamingos As a result flamingos are forced to fly away in search of another habitat and foodChemburbased Vidyasgar Hariharan spotted two security personnel chasing flamingos away at NRI Wetlands and TS Chanakya Lake This has been happening for the last three years so the local residents decided to take the matter into their own hands They clicked the pictures of these security guards and informed the NRI police station about the incident Postinvestigation the residents got to know that these security guards were sent by Mistry ConstructionsOn May 10 Navi Mumbai resident Joita Upadhyay tweeted ldquoThere are people trying to harm and chase the flamingos away from our beloved Navi Mumbai This is the lake beside Seawoods Estates where a man was seen harming the flamingos and chasing them away Authorities need to be alerted immediatelyrdquoNow the residents are forcing the Mangrove Cell to file an FIR against the identified culprits ldquoSince Navi Mumbai is being termed as the Flamingo City authorities should ensure that the birds and their habitat are protected Itrsquos of no use if we just put up flamingo models across the cityrdquo said nature lover Mani IyerCIDCO continues with the developmentDespite being fully aware of the orders from the Bombay High Court CIDCO is not ready to recognise the environmental significance of Tawale wetlands Through diplomatic tacts with Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority local builders have received permission to proceed with the golf course constructionCIDCO has acquired maximum lands from local villagers informs Sunil In return they are giving the villagers developed land as per the 125 per cent scheme With this deal CIDCO has come to own vast expanses of Navi Mumbai land at zero investment This includes wetlands mangroves hills and lakes and other natural bodiesHowever when CIDCO acquired these lands the environmental laws were not fully developed The Environment Protection Act came in 1986 and the laws have constantly evolved now The new lands mandate every organisation to hand over Mangrove lands to the Mangrove Cell But CIDCO remains adamant on retaining those mangroves informs Sunil Instead the city planning agency has leased out the land for developing golf at the wetlandsLegal remediesldquoThe world wants to conserve the wetlands listed by the National Wetland Inventory and Assessment NWIA Atlas but only the city planner CIDCO is a stumbling blockrdquo said NatConnect Foundation director B N Kumar in his latest missive to the Union Environment DepartmentSince CIDCO is a government body owned by the state government Kumar requested the CM to nudge CIDCO into withdrawing its Supreme Court petition The state tossed the responsibility to the Urban Development Department Another advocate from Navi Mumbai has been filing cases against CIDCO in the Bombay High Court Sunil is of the opinion that political leadership needs to step up their game against the land mafia nexus Additionally the Bombay High Court needs to take this exploitation seriously and start penalising the culpritsChanging course of flamingo migrationBirdwatcher Neeraj observes that flamingos are undergoing habitat loss and changing their flight routes Also due to rampant urban development their population has decreased ldquoAs the wetlands are almost disappearing in Mumbai and New Mumbai due to filling up the ponds and other low line areas in the name of developments flamingos have no other option but to migrate out of the cityrdquoNow due to the Nhavasheva sea link coming up at the shorelines of Navi Mumbai the human presence and traffic will increase This in turn will force the birds to find other peaceful areas and they might migrate back to Sewri Photographer Vidyasagar notes that since last year Flamingos have been spotted on the western side of Mumbai They have begun flying towards Lokhandwala and Malad Creek Vidyasagar recently went on a hike to these creeks and spotted at least 5000 ldquoEntire creek at Lokhandwala was dotted with flamingos during high tiderdquoAlso Read These 8 varieties of mangoes from different parts of India are a musttry