10 flamingos dead in one week: Cause under investigation

Authorities inspect cause of flamingo deaths in Navi Mumbai. 7 dead, 5 injured. Water inlets blocked, street lights disorienting birds. Calls for probe.

Navi Mumbai: In response to the outrage over the unexplained death of flamingos visiting the city, a joint inspection was conducted on Friday afternoon by authorities from NMMC, Mangrove Cell, and the Forest Department. The visit coincided with International Flamingo Day, celebrated on April 26.

10 flamingos dead in one week: Cause under investigation

On Thursday, a total of 12 flamingos were found to be injured, with 5 already dead, and 2 more succumbed on Friday. The remaining 5 are undergoing medical treatment in Parel. Additionally, last week, two flamingos were run over by a vehicle while walking on Palm Beach Road, bringing the toll to 10 within a week.

Resident activists sent several emails urging the authorities to convene a meeting to address the crisis. During the briefing, authorities were informed about the earlier discovery that the water inlets to the wetlands were not functioning properly. “Of the three inlet points, only one was found to be partially operational. The remaining two inlets were buried under mud and debris accumulated during the construction of the defunct Nerul jetty by CIDCO,” stated resident activist Rekha Sankhala. Activists appealed to the NMMC authorities to undertake the clearing of blockages in the water inlets.

Deepak Khade, Divisional Forest Officer of the Mangrove Cell-Mumbai, led the forest department’s team in inspecting all the inlets. A report is to be submitted to the Mangrove Cell.

The repeated incidents of death have sparked major discussions among environmentalists regarding the plausible cause for flamingos dying in the city. “There is a need for a thorough probe into these deaths,” said BN Kumar, Director of NatConnet Foundation.

Officials from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) were also present for the inspection, and in their preliminary observations, they opined that the change in street lights could have resulted in the disorientation of the birds, leading some of them to land on the road. The Society requested NMMC to adjust the direction of streetlights that fall within the flight path of the birds. “Flamingos are never known to walk on roads. The shades over the bulbs should be at a 45-degree angle so that the light flows downward and not sideways, which can impact the vision of the migratory birds,” said Deputy Director of BNHS, Rahul Khot.