Hemal As har hemal@ mid- day. com TOMORROW ( February 2), is World Wetlandsu2019 Day. A wetland is any water body temporary or permanent, natural or manmade, flowing or static.
In Mumbai, World Wetlandsu2019 Day is marked by despair, as activists continue to struggle to save mangroves and wetlands, both repositories of bio- diversity.
Large scale destruction of both, especially in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region ( MMR), prompted green warriors to call a press conference on Friday at the Press Club to highlight the continued fight to preserve them.
The meet was headlined # SaveWet- LandsSaveMumbai.
The non- profit NatConnect Foundation led the charge. Director B N Kumar cited recent findings by Wetlands International South Asia stating that Mumbai has lost a maximum of 71 per cent of actual wetlands between 1970 and 2014. Kumar then showed a slide of Uran, which has seen land filling, and said, u201c This was once a stunning, beautiful green land. Today it is a desert.
Why go to Rajasthan? You have a desert here.u201d Nandakumar Pawar, head Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan, a non- profit in the green space said, u201c Ecologically sensitive Uran has borne the brunt of a brutal attack by various project proponents.u201d Activists also showed a slide of the Dastan wetland, about 55 km from Mumbai, which they said was filled by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust. Kumar added that some of the photos were obtained by activists after risking their lives.
Tukaram Koli, of a fishermenu2019s forum called Paramparik Macchimar Bachao Kruti Samiti said, u201c Fishermenu2019s livelihoods have been adversely affected because of the disappearance of wetlands. It is a question of survival for the original inhabitants of Mumbai and beyond. Farmers are on the political radar but who will speak for fishermen? We are losing out because fish, crabs, all kinds of marine life have disappeared with the obliteration of water bodies which are the hub of bio- diversity. Today, outsiders have schools, hospitals, new roads and lights built for them, but what about the Kolis who have lived here for generations? Our livelihood and way of life is disappearing.u201d Pawar concurred with the economic asphyxiation of the fisher folk.
The activists, including Sunil and Shruti Agarwal who are from the Save Navi Mumbai Environment Foundation also spoke about the enervating fight to save the environment. In the end Kumar stated, u201c We must fight the good green fight. Committees like the Mangrove Committee must be given more teeth, like the power to prosecute. We have also proposed something like the u2018 Green Policeu2019 as the police machinery is inadequate.u201d u2018 Today, outsiders have schools, hospitals, new roads and lights built for them, but what about the Kolis who have lived here for generations? Our livelihood and way of life is disappearingu2019 Tukaram Koli, Paramparik Macchimar Bachao Kruti Samiti The good green fight must go on Activists decry plummeting bio- diversity and offer solutions to save mangroves, wetlands on World Wetlands Day Shruti and Sunil Agarwal, Nandakumar Pawar, Tukaram Koli and B N Kumar at the conference on Friday at the Press Club at Azad Maidan. pic/ ATUL KAMBLE
