Responding to the persistent pleas of environmentalists, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has agreed to completely fence off DPS Lake off Nerul’s Palm Beach Road to protect flamingos from humans. The NMMC had carried out partial fencing after a woman got stuck in slush while rushing to get a close-up of the pink birds. Environmentalists raised concerns over the safety of birds as well as people and appealed to various authorities to take safety precautions.

B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation, said, “The partial fencing done by NMMC is utterly inadequate as it left huge gaps along the lake boundary. Overenthusiastic people are rushing into the sandy areas of the lake, disturbing migratory birds that rest here during the high tide at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS).”