Flamingos need water, but CIDCO needs land

Activists are livid, want CIDCO out of their city

- RAINA ASSAINAR

In an unprecedented development, city planner CIDCO has complained in writing to NRI Coastal Police against the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation, over the latter having opened the blocked water inlets at the DPS Flamingo Lake in Nerul.

Shocked green activists have stated that this act of CIDCO only goes to confirm the allegations about its intention to ‘develop’ DPS Lake into money-making infrastructure, without caring for the environment. A letter signed by an executive engineer of CIDCO at Vashi, addressed to the Senior Police Inspector of Coastal Police, has said that MLA Ganesh Naik had visited the DPS Flamingo Lake area on May 23 and directed the NMMC officials to open the blocked channels. Accord-ingly, NMMC contractors broke an existing 300mm pipe and replaced it with a 600mm pipe and even drew water from the creek, with the help of 10 horse-power motors. The complaint said that the NMMC had not taken CIDCO’s permission before starting the work.