Protecting our biodiversity is the need of the hour

The birds fly into wetlands such as DPS Flamingo Lake. Pic/Getty Images

The DPS Flamingo Lake at Nerul in Navi Mumbai faces twin dangers due to a disputed road along the wetland and the blockage of intertidal water.

An environmentalist told this paper that a team found that the 600-metre road between 30 acres of mangroves and the wetland will lead to environmental destruction.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India (MOEFCC) has asked the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority to investigate the issue. On December 3, a team from the Thane collector's office visited the lake area and recorded its panchnama report, which called for scrapping the road as it could lead to mangrove destruction and encroachment of the lake.

Migratory bird season has set in and pink birds will start arriving at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary.

The birds normally fly into wetlands such as DPS Flamingo Lake, during high tide in the creek.

It is important that we conserve our biodiversity. We are already seeing weather pattern changes and climate disasters due to global warming. Here, we need to protect our wetlands as they act as a natural anti-flood mechanism and maintain the ecological balance.

On the one hand, a push is being made towards environmental awareness and going green, while on the other, we have actions that go against that. Then, all the talk about conserving nature and maintaining an ecological balance seems cosmetic.

We must see that new infrastructure such as roads, bridges and facilities do not harm nature. There has to be a long-term, visionary approach where ecological factors are taken into consideration because they are as important, if not more so, than infrastructure.

Flamingos their existence and arrival are a sign of environmental health. Let us ensure it stays that way.