‘Thane’s wetland destruction causes flooding during rain’

THANE: With most part of the city turning vulnerable to flooding as was evident in the rains over the past few days, environmentalists working with the conservation of wetlands and mangroves believe that this is because of tampering with the natural course of environment.
Stalin Dayanand, Mumbai-based conservationist, who has been championing the cause of wetland conservation, said, “A decade ago, the heavy rainfall in the coastal areas of Mumbai, Thane and Palghar did not cause any flooding or even slight waterlogging as the excess water was flushed into the wetlands along the creek and coast.
Over the past five years, Thane has lost over 60 per cent of its wetlands, including mangroves, marshes and salt pans, to development projects, including building constructions, slum encroachments and projects like the creekside waterfront.” He added that for the creekside waterfront project, the civic body has sacrificed numerous wetland plots in Gaimukh, Ghodbunder Road, Mumbra, Kharegaon and such regions by dumping almost 16 feet of debris on it.
Activists believe that the training of streams to meet requirements of housing projects and decreasing open spaces could add to the issue of depleting wetlands. “While wetland reclamation is a crucial factor in this monsoon crisis, the fact that the natural course of streams and nullahs have been trained away from Ghodbunder Road’s development zone has made things worse. Some of the smaller streams have even been choked, which results in the streams guiding the rain water into the city and not the creek,” said Rohit Joshi, an environmentalist. “We have also seen some housing complexes adjust their drainage lines and raise their level, which has resulting in villages like Waghibil turn into lowlying areas causing flooding,” he added.