Nerul residents on plantation drive to protect Lotus Lake

In their bid to save the Lotus Lake from falling prey to encroachment, Nerul residents of Sector 27 conducted a plantation drive around it after Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) cleared encroachments so that the hutments don’t come back

In their bid to save the Lotus Lake from falling prey to encroachment, Nerul residents of Sector 27 conducted a plantation drive around it after Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) cleared encroachments so that the hutments don’t come back.

Plants around Lotus Lake. Nerul residents conducted a plantation drive to protect the lake from encroachments. (BACHCHAN KUMAR/HT PHOTO)

A WhatsApp group ‘Save Lotus Lake’ brought together many like-minded people of Sector 27, Nerul. For a few months now, the group had been working towards beautifying the Lotus Lake in Nerul. Advocate Pardeep Patole, one of the active members of the group, had filed a PIL and had got a favourable order that directed the local body to clear the debris and encroachment. Last week, NMMC cleared the encroachment after which the volunteers in the group decided to plant trees at the place. Around 35 native plants were planted in the area around the lake by the volunteers of the group.

“Apart from making sure that the encroachers don’t return, the plants will add to the beauty of the lake. We would continue to take up the issue with the NMMC till the illegal chestnut farming in the lake is stopped. The lake that once bloomed with lotuses has none blooming due to the chestnuts,” Patole said.

He added that the staff from the garden department of NMMC supported the drive by digging pits for them to plant.

Dharmesh Barai from NGO, Environment Life group, said, “Instead of artificial beautification of the lake, it should be natural. We would soon get the water tested to find if there are any chemicals in it. The plantation will act as a boundary wall and will protect the lake.”