Navi Mumbai residents demand Conservation Reserve status for DPS Lake

MUMBAI: Residents of Navi Mumbai came together in Nerul on Sunday demanding for the DPS Lake, a biodiversity-rich area, to be declared as a Conservation Reserve so that development here is restricted. A letter with over 1,200 signatures was submitted to the forest department.

Rekha Sankhla, a Seawoods resident, spearheaded the campaign. She said, “We will add this signed letter to strengthen our case with public opinion. The wetland is important for the city’s habitat, and it should be preserved.”

The water levels in the DPS lake - a satellite intertidal wetland of Thane Creek, a Ramsar site - increase only during high tides at the Creek. “The flamingos, that migrate to Thane Creek, rest and find food at these satellite wetlands in cases of high tides at the Thane Creek,” said BN Kumar, Environmentalist and Founder of NatConnect Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation.

Four pipes on each side of the DPS lake help maintain the water level at the lake, which also sustains the ecosystem. Kumar said, “For the last two to three years, the major pipe on the southern side of the lake was blocked when a jetty road was constructed. Similarly, the rest of the three points were also blocked as plastic choke up.”

The blockage of the pipes dried up most of the lake, with the remaining water becoming stagnant and algae developing on it, said Kumar. This water is not consumable for the flamingos.

Last year, the state forest department appointed a high-level committee to prepare a report on the DPS Lake. The report suggested declaring the lake and wetlands around it as a Conservation Reserve, which will restrict constructions near it, and opening up at least two blocked pipes to stop the lake from drying up completely. However, CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd) has not taken actions towards any of these suggestions, alleged Kumar.

“We have received the letter from residents and will move it higher up,” said an official from the Mangrove Cell, who was also present with residents at the Sunday meeting. “Only after the land is declared as a conservation reserve will it come under the Mangrove Department. Till then we cannot take any actions.”