Ornithology Project – Thakur Village, Mumbai

Duration: June 2016

Study area Location: Thakur Village & SGNP border areas, Kandivali (east), Mumbai.

The discussion is divided into 2 parts:

- Current state of the locality with threats perceived for environment in general & Avifauna in
particular

- Action Plan for Conservation

The area can be broadly classified in the following categories:

:
1. Residential – High rise apartment buildings: There are about 40 buildings and a school in the said
area. Most of these buildings are part of some large society.

One prominent characteristic of such large societies (as opposed to single buildings) is that they have
been able to retain a sizeable portion of the green cover either by conserving the trees or by way of
creating gardens / open spaces. The general cleanliness of these buildings is also good since these
have deployed efficient garbage disposal systems & the ground is normally paved which helps
maintain hygienic conditions. However, there are continuous vehicle flows (2 & 4 wheelers) which
contribute to noise pollution more than air pollution. This definitely causes disturbance to the
Avifauna as well as to the residents (honking of vehicles requesting to open the gates for example).

2. Green areas / gardens: These primarily are :

a. Evershine Dream Park: Around 1 lac sq ft area with 30 – 40% green cover & the rest being
open / play / walking areas.

b. Gundecha Joggers Park: Around 12 – 15 thousand sq.ft. with 70% green cover.

c. Gardens inside the Societies:

These are generally well maintained and have been observed to be a safe haven for birds. In the
morning and evening, it comes alive with the chirping & clamoring calls of these birds who seem to
enjoy the food & shelter that it provides to them.

3. Residential – hutments: Located right on the boundary of the National park (but outside of it), there
are approximately 200 – 250 houses located in the area called Janupada. These are a mix of
kachcha houses & hutments. There are no proper drainage systems and garbage management in
general is also poor. This leads to heaps of garbage & improper waste disposal. This has led to a rise
 in the population of crows which move freely into the National park – thus disturbing the natural
Avifauna eco-system of the park.

4. MSEB Receiving station & Employee colony: Adjoining the park boundary, on the inside of the
park is located this Electric switchyard & the staff quarters where about 250 – 300 people reside (60
flats). While the general upkeep & garbage management is good, the free transport shuttle for the
employees & their families to take them out of the park & till Borivali station is a big contributor to the
air & noise pollution inside the park. This may be deemed necessary but its harmful effects haven’t
been thought of especially since the buses / vehicles traverse about 3 km inside the park to exit out of
the main gate. Ironically, the colony is located less than 500 meters away from the Kandivali entrance
of the park but the vehicles do not exit from the same due to lack of a pucca road.

5. Roads / approach paths: Around 3 – 4 km of total road length (including the kuchcha road patches)
are lined with trees. So far only prone to occasional trimming by the MCGM, a few months back
around 10 of these healthy trees were abruptly & completely chopped off. I had personally
tweeted this to the CM, Maharashtra but got no response.

6. School: Gundecha Education Academy is a fairly large school where around 2,000 children study.
One problem area about it is the private vehicles & school buses dropping school children creating a
ruckus in the morning with careless honking. This disturbs the birds & the environment during the
otherwise pleasant morning. The quiet afternoons, too, suffer the same agony when the children have
to head home.

7. Forest area: Inside the park boundary, this area is well protected and faces no threat as such.

My suggested Action Plan with the stakeholders considering the above aspects:

1. Municipal authorities:

a. Work with the Local influential political leader Yogesh Bhoir & get efficient garbage
management systems implemented for the hutment areas. The cleanliness will not only
help environment & Avifauna but also improve quality of life & health of the people in the
locality.

b. For tree chopping, make a representation to the local ward office by collecting 1,000
signatures of the residents. This will ensure responsible behavior from the Tree / Road
department.

2. Local residents / School authorities:

a. Encourage “No Honking” by creating a special drive involving children who can get the
pledge signed by their parents. The message can also be reinforced during parent
interactions. We can design & distribute car stickers (samples shown below) to parents
who take this pledge. We can also take help of the cultural committees of various
societies which are generally found to be very supportive of such causes.
3. Forest authorities / MSEB: Make a representation for building a connecting pucca road (100
meters) which can ensure that the MSEB vehicles exit from the Kandivali gate (500 meters
distance) instead of going around till main gate (3 – 4 km).

4. Encourage Senior Citizens to become Tree protectors – who can keep a watch on abrupt tree
chopping and immediately alert the senior municipal authorities to prevent it.