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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 7:24:18 pm

Flamingo City may see early ‘pink influx’, wetlands worry

Pollution, algal growth and disrupted tidal flows threaten key bird habitats Flamingos could arrive in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai earlier than usual this winter, potentially in larger numbers, but environmentalists warn that deteriorating wetlands may leave the migratory birds with inadequate feeding grounds. Polluted water, excessive algal growth and disrupted tidal flows threaten three key habitats DPS Flamingo Lake, NRI Wetland and TS Chanakya Wetland raising concerns over the region’s...

Flamingo City may see early ‘pink influx’, wetlands worry

Pollution, algal growth and disrupted tidal flows threaten key bird habitats Flamingos could arrive in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai earlier than usual this winter, potentially in larger numbers, but environmentalists warn that deteriorating wetlands may leave the migratory birds with inadequate feeding grounds. Polluted water, excessive algal growth and disrupted tidal flows threaten three key habitats DPS Flamingo Lake, NRI Wetland and TS Chanakya Wetland raising concerns over the region’s preparedness for the annual arrival of the pink visitors, NatConnect Foundation said. Senior scientist Mrugank Prabhu of Srushti Conservation Foundation expects the birds to arrive early, possibly in greater numbers. A deficient monsoon in Kutch could affect water levels and food availability, prompting flamingos to seek alternative feeding grounds sooner than usual, said Prabhu, who has been studying bird movements along the Central Asian Flyway. NatConnect director B N Kumar said the three wetlands were not adequately prepared to receive the birds, which attract birdwatchers and nature enthusiasts to Navi Mumbai and the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS), a Ramsar site. The concerns follow private laboratory tests commissioned by NatConnect earlier this year, which found elevated pollution indicators in water samples collected from all three sites. Kumar said flamingos had moved north to Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan during the previous migratory season, while arrivals in the Mumbai region began in smaller batches. He cautioned that deteriorating wetlands could fail to provide suitable feeding grounds if the birds arrived early in search of alternative habitats. NRI Wetland in Nerul has been affected by extensive algal growth, while neighbouring TS Chanakya Lake faces waterlogging and drainage problems. Environmentalists attribute these issues to encroachment and interference with natural water flows. Kumar called for urgent restoration, expressing concern over delays in securing formal legal protection for the wetlands.

Drawn Lines

Correspondent
Jun 8
2 min read

For years, India’s eastern frontier has been a study in political evasiveness. While past governments spoke of illegal immigration and border security, their actions rarely matched their rhetoric. That era now appears to be definitively ending.


With the BJP now in power across the states adjoining Bangladesh, India’s political message is now unmistakable. For the newly installed BJP government in West Bengal under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, border management is no longer a peripheral issue but a top governing priority.


The recent transfer of land for fencing in the strategically vital Chicken’s Neck corridor, the acceleration of long-pending infrastructure projects and the renewed emphasis on identifying and deporting illegal immigrants signal a fundamental shift in policy.


Every sovereign state possesses the right and has the obligation to know who enters its territory and who remains within it. That is particularly true in eastern India, where concerns about illegal immigration from Bangladesh have shaped political discourse for decades. For long, entire political careers were built on this issue.


For years, the issue was entangled in the politics of appeasement. The erstwhile Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government had repeatedly prioritising vote-bank considerations over robust border management, dismissing concerns about infiltration as politically motivated. The new administration under Suvendu Adhikari has chosen a markedly different course. By accelerating fencing projects, facilitating security infrastructure and backing stricter enforcement, it has made clear that border security is a core responsibility of the state.


The importance of the Chicken’s Neck corridor alone justifies heightened vigilance. Barely 22 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, this strip of land links the Indian mainland to the eight northeastern states. Any security planner examining a map of India immediately understands its significance.


Nor is border fencing some extraordinary measure. Around the world, nations erect barriers to combat illegal migration, trafficking and smuggling. A fence is not a declaration of hostility but an assertion of jurisdiction. Countries have borders precisely because they are expected to regulate movement across them.


This is why any future attempt by Bangladesh to internationalise the issue - whether through multilateral forums or appeals to international bodies - would be deeply misguided. No principle of international law grants one country the authority to veto how another secures its frontier.


If individuals identified through due process as Bangladeshi nationals are being repatriated, why should Bangladesh object to receiving them?


Credit must go to the central government and the new administration in West Bengal for treating border security as a matter of governance rather than a slogan.


Borders are expressions of statehood itself. A nation unwilling to secure them invites infiltration, smuggling and lawlessness. A nation unwilling to acknowledge them ultimately erodes the very meaning of citizenship. The effort currently underway to fence the Indo-Bangladesh border is the long-overdue assertion of our state’s most elementary duty: to decide who may enter its territory and who may not.


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