Times of India , Thursday, December 13, 2007

Correspondent : Staff Reporter

MUMBAI: It is not only the thousands of flamingoes who are unprotected and exposed to poaching on the wetlands of Mumbai. Over 300 varieties of birds inhabit the coastal wetlands and mudflats in Mumbai, Thane and Raigad. All of them face the poacher's gun as these eco-sensitive regions remain unprotected by forest department officials. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 states that the department can book any person who commits a crime like shooting wild animals, reptiles and birds even if the area does not come under the jurisdiction of a forest territory. The Act attracts a minimum punishment of three years and a maximum punishment of seven years. But officials said they are unable to protect wildlife in areas like mud banks, estuaries and mangroves due to a lack of staff and adequate infrastucture. A senior state wildlife official, who wished to remain unnamed, said the department can't monitor activity across the entire region. Forest officials also pointed out that the vast tracts of mudflats at Sewri and Nhava Sheva are owned by port authorities. "We do not have access to these areas," claimed one official. "We need to have mobile police and regular patrolling in these areas, otherwise poaching incidents like this will continue," warned naturalist Sunjoy Monga of the NGO, Bombay Natural History Society. Upto 170 varieties of birds are estimated to live at Sewri, 120 in Uran and a 100 each at the Thane and Manori creeks. Monga said, "Mumbai is blessed with some of the best water bodies in the world. The flamingoes feed on the algae and they usually arrive here in November and stay till May." But this year, like last year, the majority of the flamingoes are still to arrive. "The flamingoes that were poached may be a few that had arrived early and maybe some who stayed behind," Monga said. It is believed that the flamingoes arrive from Rann of Kutch and even from Iran and Iraq. "But no proper study has been done on the annual migration every winter. This despite the fact that over a lakh of people visit these mudflats to see this natural wonder every year," said environmentalist Bittu Sahgal. He said proper studies should be done on these gregarious birds. "As of now, we do not even know whether fewer numbers are arriving or not," he said. viju.balanarayanan@timesgroup.com

SOURCE : Times of India, Thursday, 13 December 2007