Mumbai The state government, through the office of environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, has directed the forest department’s mangrove cell to assess the ownership history of Lokhandwala Lake in K-West ward, so that the water body can be brought under the purview of the Indian Forest Act (1927) and protected as a ‘reserved forest’ area.
On the occasion of World Environment Day earlier this month, Lokhandwala resident and veteran ornithologist Sunjoy Monga, had written to Aaditya Thackeray with an intention to draw his attention to the neglect.
“The gem of a tiny lake, lying amid mangroves on either side, lies forlorn, confused as to who controls it, and lost to every manner of assault…from endless garbage dumping to all manners of other disturbances, including illegal fishing and bird-hunting at times,” Monga pointed out. The land falls under CTS Survey No 120, within the revenue boundary of Versova village.
As per data recorded by conservationists, at least 133 species of birds have been spotted at the lake in the last 20 years, in addition to 39 species of insects and reptiles, making it an important biodiversity hotspot amidst a rapidly urbanising landscape. The roads are lined with mostly exotic trees, including copperpods, gulmohars and acacias, which provide a suitable roosting place for birds.
During a visit to the area on Sunday, a Hindustan Times team observed at least nine species of butterflies and twelve avian species, including four varieties of egrets, a white-throated kingfisher, a purple swamp hen, a purple heron, a grey heron, water hens, moor hens and jacanas, among others. Rare sightings include that of the Mallard Ferruginous duck, Great Cormorant, Striated heron, Knob-billed duck, Northern Shoveller, Eurasian wigeon, Common buzzard and Greater spotted eagle.
Monga, who has been visiting the lake for two decades and accompanied the HT on Sunday, added, “There is an abundance of food for birds here. There are three primary species of fish in the lake, including climbing perch, catfish and tilapia. As the lake was drying up in the last week of May, some people came and fished them out en masse, carrying them away in large gunny bags dumped in the back of a tempo. This sort of activity is unsustainable, and though the lake exemplifies the resilience of urban ecologies, it needs to be actively managed for long-term security.”
Confirming this development, Virendra Tiwari, additional principal chief conservator of forests (mangrove cell), said, “We are just checking land revenue records to see who exactly owns the lake, and whether there are any private claims. I personally visited the lake last week. It seems to be under the ownership of the BMC. Once we are clear on these details, I will brief Aaditya Thackeray, and further steps will be decided. He has taken a keen interest in bringing the area under the control of the forest department.”
Conservationists emphasised that Lokhandwala Lake is one of the last remaining semi-wild open spaces in the western suburbs, and that it is in urgent need of protection from human interference. Once an intertidal water body on the fringes of the Malad Creek, the lake has since been cut off due to construction around its periphery and is now completely rain-fed, drying up for a short period every year toward the end of the summer. The approximately nine-acre water body is bordered by two tarmac roads, one leading to an electricity sub-station toward the south, and the other to the BMC’s sewage treatment plant in Versova, toward the north west.
Hindustan Times has also obtained a 2010 letter from the BMC’s K-West ward office, addressed to MHADA, who at the time had sought permission from the BMC to beautify the lake. The request was rejected by the municipality, who said that the area falls under CRZ-1 category, where new constructions have been prohibited as per the Centre’s Coastal Regulation Zone notification of 1991.