Environmentalist to seek protection of birds before sea link construction in Charkop

According to the BMC, the project will permanently impact approximately 9,000 mangrove trees, with an additional 36,000 trees temporarily affected during construction

Mumbai: After the BMC recently announced to go up to 30 meters deep into the mangroves at Charkop for the Verova Bhayandar Sea Link project, environmentalist and a resident of Charkop, Mili Shetty, will be writing to the BMC raising a call to protect the birds that have their nests on the mangroves, requesting to relocate the birds before commencing the construction work.

Birds-and-butterflies-in-their-natural-habitat-at-an-orientation-camp-for-professors-at-Holkar-College-in-Indore-on-Thursday-Shankar-Mourya-HT-photo

According to the BMC, the project will permanently impact approximately 9,000 mangrove trees, with an additional 36,000 trees temporarily affected during construction.

Shetty claims that cuckoos, kingfishers, and the black winged kite are among the 150 species of birds that visit the 136 hectares of mangroves at Charkop and that the rare bittern bird too was spotted in 2019. Shetty is set to write to the BMC’s tree department requesting to relocate the birds’ nests before felling them, referring to the recent incident of the tree trimming drive in Thane that led to the destruction of nests, after which 45 herons died and 27 were rescued.

Shetty also plans to reach out to the BMC’s R South office, requesting that a garden be set up underneath the interchange bridge upon the project’s completion, featuring a walking track and seating arrangements for senior citizens.