All idea,no action

The site featured on the list of proposed wildlife sanctuaries in India in the 2006 National Wildlife Database Cell of the Wildlife Institute of India. Naresh Zurmure,PMC chief garden superintendent,said the area is reasonably maintained. “We are developing it under the Urban Joint Forest Management Project. In the first preliminary meeting last month with the forest department,we decided to get into a joint venture wherein they give us the right to develop the sanctuary. Around nine hectares are owned by the department. The rest,eight hectares,is under private ownership. The Land Acquisition Department of PMC has issued notices to owners to hand over the land to the PMC for development,” said Zurmure. The PMC has not set a deadline. The PMC budgetary allocation for 2010-2011 is Rs 1 crore,but no planning for usage of funds has been done.

Anuj Khare,director,Nature Walk,said,“Ten years ago,the sanctuary boasted the great white pelican,the wooly-necked stork,migratory ducks and birds from Ladakh,the spot billed duck and a wide variety of waders. Today,many of them are missing. “While talks by PMC to convert it into a protected area are on,proper research initiative is missing. We can’t go ahead and make changes in a natural ecosystem without seeing what suits the ecology ,” said Khare,insisting many missing birds are not even known since there has been no documentation. Vishwajeet Naik,a wildlife enthusiast,said,“Earlier,we would find not less than 70 species of birds. Today,due to pollution,oxygen content of the river has gone down,which has directly affected birds visiting it.” Once the area is declared a sanctuary,all activities such as dumping of garbage will be stopped. Guards will be deployed and the place will have a protected status.