28.5 ft metal flamingo finds place in 'Best of India'

Sculpture made using 1,790 scrap metal parts from 26 different machines

A 28.5-foot-tall display of a metal flamingo installed at the Jewel of Navi Mumbai in Nerul by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) found its place in the Best of India records in the human interest and innovation category. The giant sculpture has been made by recycling waste under the corporate social responsibility program.

Best of India Records examiner BB Nayak presented the national record certificate and medal with the text 'tallest scrap metal sculpture made of machine parts' to NMMC Commissioner Abhijit Bangar earlier this week.

According to a civic official, the flamingo has been made using 1,790 scrap metal parts from 26 different machines and has been attracting public attention for a long time. The 28.5-foot (8.70 meters) tall flamingo is mounted on a 3.9 feet high pedestal. “The 1.5tonne flamingo made by recycling waste has been awarded a national record certificate by Best of India as the highest sculpture made from scrap metal in the country,” said a senior civic official.

The official informed that the flamingo, made of scrap material, was installed a few days back to beautify the city and push for the 'flamingo city' tag. During winter, flamingos come to Navi Mumbai and this is one of the major attractions of the region. Tourists, bird lovers and citizens visit in large numbers to see the long-term resident flamingos on the bay shores of Navi Mumbai. This pushed civic chief Bangar to strengthen the identity of the city as a 'flamingo city'.

Attractive murals of flamingos have been created at various places in this inner city and sculptures of flamingos have been installed in many places. Between December 2021 and March 2022, as per the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) – a pan-India wildlife research organisation – the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS) witnessed 1,33,000 flamingos which are said to be the highest so far.