MUMBAI: Ravindra Waikar, Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai North-West, has written to the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), urging immediate intervention in the rapid rise of constructions around Vihar and Powai lakes. The MP has pointed out that the construction directly violates the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (WPA) as well as a Bombay high court 2022 order on the protection of Powai Lake.
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According to the MP, illegal construction activity in the ecologically sensitive areas surrounding Powai Lake, Paspoli and Vihar Lake is posing a serious threat to Mumbai’s urban wildlife habitat. The Powai Lake region and its surrounding areas serve as an important breeding zone and habitat for crocodiles, a species protected under Schedule I of the WPA. Extensive construction and increasing noise pollution have put their survival at risk.
When the issue was first brought to his notice by locals and environmental groups, Waikar personally inspected the site, and based on a preliminary assessment found that the construction was unauthorised and causing irreversible damage to the local ecosystem. He has already also informed the BMC’s S Ward and submitted a representation to the National Green Tribunal.
The alleged illegal construction extends across the Paspoli and Vihar Lake areas, the latter forming an integral part of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park ecosystem. Waikar stated in his representation that undertaking commercial or large-scale construction in such environmentally sensitive areas without prior approval from the NBWL was a serious legal violation.
According to records maintained by ‘IIT Mumbai Birds’, these wetlands are home to several rare and threatened bird species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The destruction of lakeside vegetation has damaged their nesting sites and natural feeding grounds. Waikar also noted that the process of securing global Ramsar Site status (an important wetland required to be conserved) for Powai Lake was currently underway. He argued that such illegal activities were contrary to India’s commitments under the international environmental conservation agreement.
The MP had demanded that a committee of central wildlife experts assess the impact of the construction on crocodiles and bird species and asked for an inquiry to determine whether the project has obtained the mandatory wildlife NOC from the State Board for Wildlife and the forest department. He has also demanded strict legal action under the WPA against the officials and developers responsible for destroying the wildlife habitat and has urged the Centre to take firm action against the “indifferent approach of the local administration”.
