India activists: Factory plan a threat to sanctuary

Mumbai: The Karnala Bird Sanctuary in Raigad district, about 57km from Mumbai and home to over 170 species of resident and migratory birds, has come under threat from a polluting factory, which is to be built 1.5km away, activists have said.

Over 40 members of the Watchdog Foundation, an NGO advocating social, civic as well as environmental issues, on Monday appealed to the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) to take up the cause.

They submitted a memorandum to BNHS Director Dr Assad Rahmani.

“The viscose staple fibre plant is being set up 1.5km from the Karnala Bird Sanctuary even though, as per environmental norms, any industry within a radius of 10km from a wildlife habitat requires specific permission,” said Nicholas Almeida, an activist from the Foundation.

“It is likely to produce harmful gases like sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and carbon disulfide and any excess off these gases in the atmosphere will lead to acid rain and may even acidify the water found in the Sanctuary, thus killing the insects consumed by the birds and ultimately threatening the very existence of birdlife,” he said.

Meanwhile tiger conservationist Kishor Rithe, a member of the National Board for Wildlife that met recently, said the issue of giving a green signal for construction of the plant had been deferred for a meeting with the Ministry of Environment and Forests in Delhi end of July. The stumbling block was the close proximity to the Sanctuary, he said.

Lenzing Modi Fibres India Private Ltd plans to set up the viscose staple fibre plant in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Zone (MIDC) in Raigad district.

“It is the Maharashtra government that will have to take up this matter since the industry is coming up in a designated chemical industry zone.” Rithe said.

“The contradiction here is that a Supreme Court ruling states that there should be no industry within a 10km radius of any wildlife sanctuary or national park.”

Even a captive thermal power plant is also likely to be set up here.

“If given permission, it would set a precedent for other projects,” he said.

Found in this isle of thick greenery near the highway to Goa are 147 resident and 37 migratory bird species.

Some of the species include the paradise fly catcher, magpie robin, Malabar whistling thrush, golden-backed woodpecker and others. Also spotted here are the ashy minimet, heart-spotted Woodpecker as well as two endangered species—the long-billed vulture and hour-horned antelope.

The Watchdog activists say that Rahmani who has authored a book on the endangered birds of India and is the member of the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wildlife, had himself said that the widening of National Highway-17 from four to six lanes near the Karnala Bird Sanctuary was not site specific, considering the small size of the sanctuary, its biodiversity and three alternate routes.

Eventually the Standing Committee rejected the proposal for road widening in 2009.