Thane collector to decide Lotus Lake’s wetland status

The High Court (HC) on Wednesday directed the Thane collector to go through the revenue records to ascertain the nature of the land and its use before the area was handed over to CIDCO

The conservation and preservation of the lotus lake spread over two hectares in Nerul, Navi Mumbai is now in the hands of Thane district Collector. The High Court (HC) on Wednesday directed the Thane collector to go through the revenue records to ascertain the nature of the land and its use before the area was handed over to City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO). The Collector Ashok Shingare has been directed to file an affidavit within four weeks.

A file photo of Lotus Lake in Sector 27, Nerul in Navi Mumbai, India. (Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO)

The fresh HC directive comes in the wake of the doubts raised by the state Environment and Climate Change ministry about the authenticity of the lake getting notified by the wetlands uthority. The state department had raised it in an affidavit filed with the court in February 2023.

“The State in the affidavit has mentioned that though the Lotus Lake is notified with the wetland ID code 13517, yet there were discrepancies with the data submitted by wetland authority in 2017 and that of records submitted by the district collector in 2021. Now that HC has directed the collector to furnish the data, the existence of the lake is now dependent on the findings from the revenue department. It could be a deciding factor in this matter,” said petitioner in the public interest litigation, advocate Pradeep Patole.

The affidavit by the state is in response to Patole’s PIL before the courts since 2021. Advocate Patole had filed the PIL demanding that the sole wetland in the area be preserved and protected from encroachments and debris dumping. The lake filled with lotuses is a picturesque area situated amidst a cluster of residential complexes in sector 27 of Nerul.

“The lake is the only picturesque place in the area which is surrounded by concrete buildings. There have been regular attempts to encroach the area. The area should be preserved and authorities must consider beautifying it and developing it into an attraction point,” said Rizwan Sheikh, a resident.

The HC has directed the Collector to resolve the contentions by filing an affidavit based on the revenue records containing details of the revenue entries made against the land wherein the lake presently exists. The affidavit is also supposed to include details about the exact nature of the land i.e. whether it was in agricultural use or it was recorded as some water body.

Repeated calls to Thane Collector Ashok Shingare went unanswered.