Festival of Flamingos in Mumbai

Wearein danger of getting buried under the weight of our own Garbage. Time to wake up and act Simple solutions of segregating Our home garbage can helpa lot.

- Krishan Kalra

BEAUTIFUL flamingos B - the national bird of the Bahamas have their largest population in the world on the lakes of East Africa. There's a permanent population of about two million of these charming birds in that region; most of it being in Northern Tanzania. In India their concentration is mostly in the salt deserts of the Rann of Kutch. Mumbai has seen these migratory birds only since the 1990s and thereby lies a Story of Sustainability!

As the city grew in the 1970s and 1980s so did the volume of untreated sewage in the Thane Creek nurturing the Algae that is almost staple food other than shrimp - for flamingos. So their presence kept increasing-Ig I guess through word-of-mouth-publicity just as it happens amongst humans - and increased to an astounding 1,30,000 in the winter of 2022. During the last decade or so, local residents have been celebrating the 'Gorgeous Pink Brigade'. So, here is an interesting case of pollution generated by individual and civic neglect (untreated sewage) proving a boon for the birds.

Strange are the ways of nature - at times beyond comprehension - because the same pollution has been lethal for fish. Nearly half the species of fish in the creek had disappeared between the 1980s to the year 2000. Look at another aspect. Mangroves that zealously guarded crucial barrier against soil erosion by the constant ramming of sea waves - are now growing rapidly into the sea and making the creek narrower.