The Hindu : National : Baywatch: Flamingo home in peril

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 16, 2005

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National

Baywatch: Flamingo home in peril

Meena Menon

Questions over the Nhava Sewri Trans Harbour sea link to be built at the Sewri Bay of Mumbai

MUMBAI: Environmentalists here are protesting against the Nhava Sewri Trans Harbour sea link, to be built at the Sewri Bay, which attracts more than 20,000 flamingos every winter.

The sea link was granted environmental clearance on March 11, 2005. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), the World Wide Fund for Nature , the Wetlands International and scores of bird lovers have started a massive campaign including a signature drive against the sea link. They have also launched a website — Mumbaiflamingobay.com.

Fifteen per cent of the entire South Asian population of Lesser Flamingos are found at the Sewri Bay on the eastern waterfront of the city, from October to April. The site also has mangroves and a fort. Over 150 species of birds have been recorded here. The Sewri Bay and mud flats attract more than half a million birds annually, making it an important wintering habitat.

Sunjoy Monga, naturalist and writer and member of Baywatch — the Mumbai Flamingo Bay group, told mediapersons on Thursday that this site was declared an Important Bird area through a programme conducted by the Birdlife International U.K. Mr. Monga said that though the project had received environmental clearance, the mandatory Environment Impact Assessment and the public hearing were conducted in 1999. No one was invited to these hearings and the entire project lacked transparency, according to him. However, he added that the protest was not against development. He said it was time environmental and developmental concerns were balanced. The activists suggested that the bridge could be re-aligned to skirt the Bay. However, Vivek Kulkarni, a scientist with the Godrej Mangrove Project, said that realignment was not the issue and the concerns were far deeper. "Right in the middle of the city, we have such a beautiful paradise, which is a unique example of co-existence of birds and industries.

While many of the flamingos leave by May every year, over 2,000 of them stay back even during the rains. The bridge will wipe out this critical ecosystem," he said.

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