NAVI MUMBAI: In a major relief to environmentalists struggling to save 289 hectares of Panje wetland and its biodiversity, the Bombay High Court-appointed Wetlands Committee has refused to accept Cidco’s contention that Uran taluka The Claws site is not a wetland.
During the latest meeting organized by the HC-appointed Wetlands Panel, one of its members, D StalinStand firm in your stand that Paws is a wetland as intertidal waters are still seen here and continue to attract hundreds of wetland birds like flamingos.
“Cidco wanted to close the complaints about landfill and other violations at Panje site on the grounds that it is not a wetland. However, I argued that paws are still seen in intertidal waters, and so are wetland birds, after which the panel refused to close the case files,” Stalin said.
Meanwhile, the committee referred the issue of violation and choking of inter-tidal water flow in NRI and TS Chanakya wetlands in Nerul to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). “Experts like the then Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) and MCZMA have also said that the claw comes under CRZ 1 and needs to be protected. These marine experts are not crazy about agreeing on the status of Panje’s wetland,” Stalin said.
So the Wetlands Committee decided not to close the series of pending complaints on the violations in the paws. Welcoming “Positive Growth”, Director of Natconnect Foundation BN KumarThose who have repeatedly expressed concern about its destruction with the government and the Mangroves and Wetlands Committees said Panje has all the characteristics of a wetland as defined by the Ramsar Convention.
Nandkumar Pawar, head of Shree Ekveer Eye EstablishmentThe Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and many experts are keen to preserve the claw, and it is only “CIDCO and other vested interests” who are bent on destroying it to create a concrete jungle.
The MCZMA, in its affidavit to the Bombay HC, has said that Panj is CRZ 1 area, while the environment minister had also stopped new construction there. The information received under the Right to Information Act shows that along with the construction of a wall and sluice gate at Panj, the compound wall built by the Navi Mumbai Special Economic ZoneNMSEZ) has no CRZ clearance, Pawar and Kumar said.
During the latest meeting organized by the HC-appointed Wetlands Panel, one of its members, D StalinStand firm in your stand that Paws is a wetland as intertidal waters are still seen here and continue to attract hundreds of wetland birds like flamingos.
“Cidco wanted to close the complaints about landfill and other violations at Panje site on the grounds that it is not a wetland. However, I argued that paws are still seen in intertidal waters, and so are wetland birds, after which the panel refused to close the case files,” Stalin said.
Meanwhile, the committee referred the issue of violation and choking of inter-tidal water flow in NRI and TS Chanakya wetlands in Nerul to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA). “Experts like the then Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) and MCZMA have also said that the claw comes under CRZ 1 and needs to be protected. These marine experts are not crazy about agreeing on the status of Panje’s wetland,” Stalin said.
So the Wetlands Committee decided not to close the series of pending complaints on the violations in the paws. Welcoming “Positive Growth”, Director of Natconnect Foundation BN KumarThose who have repeatedly expressed concern about its destruction with the government and the Mangroves and Wetlands Committees said Panje has all the characteristics of a wetland as defined by the Ramsar Convention.
Nandkumar Pawar, head of Shree Ekveer Eye EstablishmentThe Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and many experts are keen to preserve the claw, and it is only “CIDCO and other vested interests” who are bent on destroying it to create a concrete jungle.
The MCZMA, in its affidavit to the Bombay HC, has said that Panj is CRZ 1 area, while the environment minister had also stopped new construction there. The information received under the Right to Information Act shows that along with the construction of a wall and sluice gate at Panj, the compound wall built by the Navi Mumbai Special Economic ZoneNMSEZ) has no CRZ clearance, Pawar and Kumar said.
,