The minister said the committee would comprise environmental experts and senior Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials. He said that care would be taken to see that the action plan drawn to save the lake adhered to the provisions of Environment Protection Acts.

The Union Minister's promise comes in the wake of a massive morcha taken out by local residents on October 11 demanding that the government take steps to save the lake from the construction industry's onslaught. Several environmental protection groups too had takenpart in the morcha.

Environmental activist Debi Goenka, who was present at the inauguration ceremony, told Express Newsline that recycling of non-biodegradable substances through vermiculture in the residential colonies surrounding the lake could go a long way in saving its water from further contamination. This will also help in keeping the lake surroundings clean, he added.

According to Managing Director Niranjan Hiranandani of the Hiranandani Construction, already 16 lakh litres of sewer from the housing complex are being treated at a recycling plant to water the plants in the 380 acre colony. The filtered water is also used in the maintenance of the 4-acre Nirvana Garden.

Later in the day, Prabhu visited the Bombay Natural History Society's educational centre at Goregaon to release a `Book of Indian Shell' written by Deepak Apte. The book is the first of its kind with more than 300 colour pictures of marine shell found along the country's shores.