Flamingos are here!!!!!!!! At Mithi River for the first time!!!

Whether the desilting and deepening of Mithi river by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has helped humans would be ascertained as the monsoon advances. But the work has definitely helped the winged visitors of the city, the flamingos.
For the first time, a flock of 11 lesser flamingos has camped at Mithi river since last three days. “It is the sign of rejuvenating ecology of the river. Now that the birds have arrived here, we must protect them,” said Avinash Kubal, deputy director of Maharashtra Nature Park and winner of Best Practical Wildlifer award of Wildlife Institute of India. The flock is most likely to stay here as lesser flamingos have become resident to many parts of the region over last few years, Kubal said.
“There are no records of flamingos visiting Mithi river. This is possibly for the first time ever that the birds are camping there,” said Adesh Shivkar, a bird expert.
The desilting and deepening of the river has resulted in increasing the quantity of sea water flowing in during high tide. As a result, many marine plants and algae also entered the river. “The blue-green algae grow in sea is the food of flamingos. Form ecological point of view, it is definitely encouraging development,” Kubal said.
The high level of pollution and degradation of the river had resulted in complete destruction of ecosystem. The situation started to deteriorate when the municipal corporation started dumping solid waste along the banks of the river around three decades back. “Since then, the winged visitors had stopped visiting Mithi river and there are no records of their visit during this period,” Kubal said.
The flock is currently restricted to a small portion behind Maharashtra Nature Park. The area on one side the river being densely populated and heavy development underway on the other, flamingos have no option but to remain in the small portion. “Given the trend in the known flamingo areas like Uran in Navi Mumbai, the flock at Mithi river is at grave risk of being poached.
Not only flamingos, even the lesser whistling ducks and brahmini ducks had also camped at the river for the first time last year, Shivkar said. “These birds are indicators of water pollution and status of ecology. The fact that these birds have started camping at Mithi river, is an indicator of reducing pollution in the river, he said. “This year flamingos camped at Worli village where they were never seen before. This is probably, due to formation of muddy beaches as a result of siltation,” Shivkar said. According to him, the juveniles and weak adults called as non-breeding residents can not fly back and prefer to stay here. “They are in constant search of muddy beaches to feed and camp at,” he said.