Flamingo habitats face decline as wetlands turn toxic in Navi Mumbai | India News
Climate activists have sounded a ‘wetland emergency’, as three prime flamingo habitats in Navi Mumbai have turned toxic, with tests of water samples revealing alarming results.Activists Nerul’s DPS, NRI and TS flagged the deteriorating condition of Chanakya lake, which serves as a satellite wetland for the Ramsar site Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS).Flamingo season in Navi Mumbai is from November to May, January to March as the peak viewing time, as bird lovers and enthusiasts flock to the wetlands to catch a glimpse of the pink parade.Water sample tests commissioned by the NatConnect Foundation indicate a system under severe stress, activists said in messages sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.BN Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation, said the absence of flamingos this season has heightened the alert.Four basic indicators – TDS, pH, BOD and COD – paint a consistent picture of decline. The results showed more concentrated, stagnant water than natural tidal flushing.“Broadly speaking, all four indicators tell the same story—water is not moving as it should in a healthy intertidal marsh,” Kumar said, pointing to blocked or restricted tidal flow.Wetlands are becoming stagnant, polluted basins instead of regular drainage.Activists blame the administration’s failure entirely.The City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) is “largely responsible for what happened,” said climate activist Nandakumar Pawar, adding that regulators such as the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and the Forest Department “simply looked the other way”.Wetlands, he warned, were a public resource that was being destroyed in plain sight.Flamingos depend on algae and microorganisms that thrive in a balanced environment. As water quality deteriorates, food chains collapse, turning feeding grounds into stressed habitats.Although flamingos have adapted to degraded sites in the past, their absence now indicates that the system has crossed a critical threshold.“These wetlands were our pride. Today, they are being completely destroyed,” said Rekha Shankhala of the Save Flamingos and Mangroves Forum, urging authorities to treat the situation as a public health emergency.Calling for accountability, Sandeep Sarin of the Navi Mumbai Environment Preservation Society (NMEPS) said the lab findings reveal “poisoned water” fueled by uncontrolled development.“CIDCO’s indifference — placing concrete over preserves — is destroying these wetlands despite court orders,” he said, warning that flamingos are “the canary in the coal mine of our ecosystem.” “CIDCO’s willful neglect in times of climate crisis puts groundwater and biodiversity at risk, and we call for immediate government intervention to save these wetlands,” said activist Pamela Cheema.
