Forest dept says no signs of sabotage in Talawe wetland

Mumbai: The forest department has maintained that no signs of sabotage were discovered in the Talawe wetland site after residents complained that the flow of tidal water to the wetland had been blocked by gates deliberately. Earlier this month, residents had alleged that the four gates near the pond had been shut down, holding back the tidal water and leaving the water body high and dry. Following the inspection at the site earlier this week, officers from the forest department stated that there were no signs of any sabotage and has asked residents to observe tidal patterns till Monday. However, the department will be again visiting the site on Monday.

“We found no sabotage during our visit to the site. The wetland area has been experiencing tides of lower level this week and it may have impacted the water level that reaches the pond in question. However, we found that both the ponds at the site had reduced water levels,” said Prakash Choudhary, Range Forest Officer who inspected the site.   

The Asian Age had earlier reported that a day after the Bombay high court directed City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) and developer, Mistry Constructions, to remove debris from the Seawoods wetland, locals complained to the Konkan Wetland Grievance Redressal Committee (KWGRC) about the reduction in levels of the water body behind the NRI complex.

“We found that the pond behind NRI complex had lower water level comparatively. While the forest department says the tides are of lower height, we have seen the water levels plummeting during high tides too. The inspection on Monday will make the picture more clear,” said Sunil Agarwal, resident of NRI complex, Nerul.