Team Blitz India
MUMBAI: De-reservation of plots by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMCV) on ‘protected’ water bodies is a major environmental shock, say environmentalists from Navi Mumbai.
They allege that these plots have been de-reserved under the guise of development for the benefit of real estate sector. NMMC published its new development plan for the first time since its inception 33 years ago. The plan is aimed at guiding the city’s growth and development over the next two decades.
“The de-reservation of water bodies is a major environmental shock for the city. This is a highly short-sighted approach,” Director of NatConnect Foundation, B N Kumar said.
He pointed out that they had suggested the Flamingo City name for Navi Mumbai when the municipal corporation was painting flamingos on the city’s walls and bridges in 2019. Later, the then municipal commissioner Abhijit Bangar declared that the flamingo destinations, namely wetlands, must be conserved.
Bangar wrote to the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) to handover the DPS Lake to the NMMC but the latter did not agree. Now the NMMC has de-reserved wetlands. These are important not only to preserve biodiversity, but they also support local communities which depend on fishing.
