This story is from April 29, 2021

Navi Mumbai: Supermoon effect restores tidal water in dry Panje wetland; migratory birds return

Navi Mumbai: Supermoon effect restores tidal water in dry Panje wetland; migratory birds return
Due to the strong tidal effects of supermoon, the seawater at Panje has managed to cross over the man-made bunds that were blocking the water movement
NAVI MUMBAI: The Supermoon phenomenon that occurred early this week has managed to do a tiny 'super-miracle' at the parched Panje wetland, which the environmentalists were quite literally begging the government officials to restore.
Due to the strong tidal effects of supermoon, the seawater at Panje has managed to cross over the man-made bunds that were blocking the water movement.
As the tidal water gushed through, several migratory birds also immediately started coming into Panje in the last two days.
Bird watchers were delighted to find several tagged greater sand plover birds here, after nearly three years. The greater sand plover is a small yet hardy migratory bird which travels hundreds of kilometers from the central desert areas near Turkey.
The 'supermoon effect' has further encouraged the greens to continue their fight to permanently save Panje. A supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest (perigee) to Earth at the same time it is full.
"Panje had been reduced to a dry land with the blocking of five tidal water inlets by vested interests despite an order from the National Green Tribunal (NTG) to clear the hindrances. Some tidal water, however, flowed over the manmade bunds into parts of the wetland, thanks to the recent supermoon event," said activist B N Kumar of NGO NatConnect Foundation.
Local birder Parag Gharat who ventured out with his camera after seeing the waterflow spotted many tagged birds. After cross-checking with
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), tagged birds seen at Panje were identified as greater sandplover (Charadrius leschenaultii).
The sand plovers that breed in semi-deserts of Central Asia such as Turkey, have the tendency to fly eastward and can live for 12 to 19 years. This species is strongly migratory, wintering on sandy beaches in East Africa, South Asia and Australasia, BNHS experts said.
“The presence of migratory birds teach us the importance of maintaining our wetlands as they are urban sponges that absorb flood waters. Wetlands are home to several microbes which are essential for our biodiversity as we are taught in our schools,” Kumar said.
Nandakumar Pawar, head of Shri Ekvira Aai Pratishtan, regretted that most of the Panje Wetland remained dry as water flow continued to be blocked by vested interests. “We just cannot understand how the officials can keep flouting the NGT order to clear the man-made blocks at the five water inlets,” Pawar.
Pawar found it strange that NMSEZ was going ahead with full speed with its landfill on wetlands, Cidco’s official construction work has been held up due to the 15% attendance rule and not-availability of labour. Pawar pointed out that Cidco is a 26% partner in NMSEZ.
Mangroves and wetlands under many NMSEZ plots have already been buried and the result of this reckless work was unseasonal floods in several Uran villages as gushing high tide found its own course, Kumar said.
The Bombay high court appointed mangrove committee’s order to restore the Bhendkhal wetland and mangroves at Pagote in Uran have again been ignored and the so-called concerned authorities remained unconcerned, Kumar said.
"Today, the reclaimed part of Bhendkhal wetland has been totally dried out with the blocking of the high-tide stream," said Dilip Koli of traditional fishing community forum – Paaramparik Machhimar Bachao Kruti Samiti. The forum has been fighting for the constitutional rights of the fishing community to practice their trade which they have been hit hard due to the largescale destruction of mangroves and wetlands, apart from the project proponents such as JNPT blocking their channels to the sea.
NMSEZ does not have the coastal zone clearances, as shown in an official response from the MCZMA, Pawar pointed out.
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