Salt pans under threat

Wadala houses a large chunk of the 5,000-odd acres of salt pans in Mumbai.

Wadala houses a large chunk of the 5,000-odd acres of salt pans in Mumbai. Urban pressures have in the past few years threatened this ecosystem which prevents flooding and serves as a bird habitat of man-made wetlands,covering the eastern parts of this central Mumbai suburb along the Thane creek.

Environmentalists say Wadala had largescale mangroves and salt pans till a few years ago. Though salt pans are protected under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules and fall under CRZ1 areas,a lot of debris dumping goes on in the area. I have witnessed largescale debris dumping into the creek when the work for the Eastern Expressway was going on, said Stalin D,director (projects) of NGO Vanashakti. He also blames the Brihanmumbai Storm Water Drainage project for drying up the areas,as the height of nullahs is raised instead of widening them.

Besides,the talk of opening up salt pan areas for development crops up every few years. In fact,only last year,CM Prithviraj Chavan suggested that the salt pan areas could be used for affordable housing and slum rehabilitation and requested the Centre to unlock them. The MMRDA,meanwhile,plans to develop the whole of Wadala into a business district like BKC though the salt pan areas have been excluded now.

Environmentalists caution that getting rid of salt pans could be a wrong move. Salt pans are important because like any natural wetland they prevent flooding. They are open spaces for the city and provide an ecological niche for bird life in winter, said Debi Goenka of Conservation Action Trust. In fact,salt pans have been made out of mangrove areas,so regeneration of mangroves happens there. We need to restore these man-made wetlands to their original state and let birds flock it; it could easily be developed as an eco-tourism spot, Stalin said.

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