Amid concerns by environmentalists and bird lovers, the Maharashtra government will spend around Rs 800 crore to minimise the damage caused to Sewri mudflats in Central Mumbai, better known for housing flamingos during their annual migration in Mumbai.
The Sewri port is one of the many old and dilapidated structures in central Mumbai. A chemical fertilizer factory, two oil refineries and a thermal power plant stand opposite to it. In winter, flamingos fly to the Sewri-Mahul mudflats, filled with chemicals and sewage, in search of food.
The long-pending Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, which involved in building a 22-km bridge from Sewri to Nhava in Navi Mumbai, is posing a threat to the birds’ habitat. The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has been demanding shifting of its starting point in Sewri to 500 meters south to minimise the destruction of mudflats. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the nodal agency of the State government, which is implementing the project, has expressed its inability to shift the starting point.
However, it has decided to appoint an environmental consultant with an estimated budget of Rs 800 crore to minimise ecological losses. This budget is around nine per cent of the total estimated project cost.
“The project has been modified by taking in to account the environmental concerns of various activists and organisations,” said Sharad Sabnis, Chief Engineer, MMRDA.
Flamingos forage in the Sewri mudflats in Mumbai.— Photo: Vivek Bendre
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/rs-800cr-plan-to-save-flamingo-habitat/article6634805.ece