1 flamingo killed, 1 injured by speeding cars in Nerul
The flamingos are wandering onto the roads due to inadequate water in DPS lake, say activists
NAVI MUMBAI : One flamingo died while another was injured after being hit by speeding vehicles while they were walking on Palm Beach Road near Nerul in the early hours of Friday. According to eyewitnesses, a small group of flamingos was walking towards the Delhi Public School Lake around 1.30-1.45 am on Friday when the incidents occurred.
“A few birds were walking towards the lake. A speeding car hit one of the birds, while another one was almost run over,” said eyewitness Hamraaz Khurana, a resident of NRI Complex who was shooting videos of the birds.
Khurana contacted the local police station, but by the time officers arrived, the bird succumbed to its injuries, he said.
Vikas Bairagi, an official with the Maharashtra forest department, confirmed the incidents and said the injured bird was handed over to the Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare, an NGO.
Shrinking habitat
The incidents have once again stoked the matter of safeguarding the flamboyance that visits the DPS lake during summer. According to resident activists, the flamingos wander onto the roads due to the lack of adequate water in the lake. Civic authorities have failed to address the long-pending matter of miscreants not letting the free flow of intertidal water into the lake, they said.
“Thousands of flamingos flock to the water body [every year]. But this year the area is largely dry, which seems to be confusing the birds to wander further away from their fly path,” said resident activist Rekha Sankala. “It is surprising that, instead of conserving the water body, the Navi Mumbai
Municipal Corporation has declared the area for residential purposes,” she added.
In addition to the low water level, scientists studying flamingos attribute the act of the birds aimlessly walking into urban areas to harsh lighting in highrise buildings. “The bird seen walking in the video is juvenile and appears to have become disoriented, which resulted in it walking aimlessly instead of flying,” said scientist Mrugank Prabhu.
In February, three flamingos died after crashing into a huge signboard that was obstructing their flight path near Nerul jetty. “NMMC, which takes credit for being Flamingo City, ought to take up measures to protect these birds,” said Sankala.
Apart from the two hit-andrun incidents on Friday, former corporator Bharat Jadhav shot videos of two flamingos lying motionless in a remote corner of the lake. “Based on the video, we searched the area but couldn’t locate any of the birds assumed to be dead,” said forest officer Sudhir Manjare.