Most important recommendation rejected: Natural history society
MUMBAI: The Bombay Natural history Society (BNHS), which had submitted a list of recommendations about the transharbour link in September, said the main one has been rejected by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA).
All of its recommendations were to do with protecting the habitat of 40,000 flamingos and five lakh waders, which throng the Sewri mudflats for eight months in a year. One of them was to shift the starting point of road 300 to 400 metres south of its current location at Sewri jetty. “Our recommendation indicated that the link should curve southwards to join the existing span, away from the habitats of flamingos and other water birds. However, apart from this recommendation, all the others have been accepted by MMRDA,” said Deepak Apte, director of BNHS.
Apte added that if the bridge is not realigned, the habitat of flamingos and other migratory birds that visit the area will be destroyed during its construction.
“They will be squeezed into a smaller area, considering that plenty of wetlands in Uran are being reclaimed, as are bird roosting areas at the site of the proposed Navi Mumbai airport. However, only time will tell what precautionary measures MMRDA will take when the work begins,” he said.
Environmental activists said this recommendation was the most important one for protecting the habitat of migratory birds. “The bridge will pass through the main areas that the birds visit annually so they will be disturbed when construction commences. If you ignore this aspect, the recommen dations cannot be said to have been accepted,” said Sumaira Abdulali convener, Awaaz Foundation.
BNHS had also recommended that construction work, once approved, should be completed in 15 to 18 months. “We withdrew one of our recommendations – that the distance between supporting pillars be increased in the first 4km and last 4km of the bridge as twice the number of pillars would have been required because of this, causing more damage to mudflats,” said Apte.