Aviators choke in ECR wetlands

CHENNAI: Sandwiched between the high-rise buildings and the sea, the coastal wetlands along the East Coast Road (ECR) up to Mahabalipuram are becoming a haven to the wetland birds. Activists and foresters are seeing a higher number of winged visitors to the wetlands, which are undergoing rapid urbanisation.

Presently, the wetlands along the ECR area do not have any protection status resulting in inadequate conservation measures putting the ecosystem under threat.

During the recently-held bird census, the forest department staff counted 37 species of wetland birds in 70.8 hectares of Muttukadu backwaters (total spread 283 hectares), including 350 Common Redshanks, 250 Marsh Sandpipers, 200 and Shorebird SP, and 200 Little Cormorants. As many as 1,498 birds were counted.

“Birds were counted in abandoned salt pans in Nemilichery, Kundrukadu and Kelambakkam apart from Muttukadu backwaters. The total number of birds was higher than that of previous years. Moreover, we could only count around 10% of the total birds as the range of binoculars is limited to 500 metres. The actual population is several times higher than the counted number,” a forest department official said.

Species galore

Meanwhile, 70.61 hectares (out of 136.62) of Nemilichery salt pans have 50 species of wetland birds including the Painted Storks, Indian Shags, Blue-Tailed Bee-Eaters, Large Pied Wagtail and Indian Rollers. As many as 925 birds were counted.

Around 10.78 hectares (out of 36.53) of Kundrukadu water body had 263 birds of 43 species and 52.33 hectares of Kelambakkam water body (total spread 180.32 hectares) had 1,161 birds of 35 species during the population estimation drive. As the source of water to these wetlands is the sea, they are perennially holding water throughout the year.

When asked about the possibility of giving any one of the conservation statuses, the official explained that the government has the power to declare any waterbody as a sanctuary along the ECR except the salt pans in Nemilichery. Another senior official opined that the waterbodies could be declared as a conservation reserve as it would help the authorities in taking conservation measures and support balanced development in the area.

“Declaring the ECR as a national park or wildlife sanctuary is not possible, as residents would oppose it. Another option, apart from declaring it a conservation reserve, is the making it a community reserve. But then again, a community reserve is possible only if a huge portion of land under protection is owned by private individuals,” the official said.

Winged visitors anew

There are two conservation reserves, one each in Tiruvidaimaruthur and Suchindram Theroor. Interestingly, Tiruvidaimaruthur is the first conservation reserve in the country.

KVRK Thirunaranan, founder, The Nature Trust, pointed out the number of birds in Odiyur, Muttukadu, Mudaliarkuppam, Thaiyur lake, salt pans of Nemilichery and others waterbodies along the ECR is increasing since 2017. Recently, the team from The Nature Trust counted around 25,000 birds in Odiyur lake.

“In Nemilichery salt pans alone, we witnessed around 12,000 ducks. On the other hand, bird population is coming down in Pallikaranai after the Cyclone Michaung possibly due to change in the topography. We used to see 6,000 ducks in Pallikaranai, but it has reduced to just 2,500,” he added.

Thirunaranan opined that the State government should step up monitoring in the waterbodies along the ECR before providing them any conservation status. “We should see how far the protection status will be useful and whether the purpose will be served. Also, viability should be taken into consideration. Presently, there are no boards to warn about the presence of coastal wetlands or estuaries in the shoreline,” he pointed out.

Polluted waters

A few days ago, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss had urged the State government to protect the ECR wetlands and pointed out that night clubs, heavy traffic movement, loud parties and bursting crackers were creating noise pollution and threatening the birds.

Ravi Meena, district forest officer (DFO) of Chengalpattu district under which the coastal wetlands fall, said that there was a proposal about the conservation of the wetlands. But he refused to shed more light on the proposal as it was in the initial stages.

Emphasising the need for the conservation of ECR wetlands, all the four sites where population estimation drive was conducted, had the significant presence of Prosopis juliflora (Seemai Karuvelam), an alien invasive species, suggesting the degradation of the bird habitats.

Also, except Nemilichery salt pans, all the three wetlands – Kundrukadu, Kelambakkam and Muttukadu backwaters – are affected by sewage discharge from nearby residential buildings.

Around 25 per cent of the water spread area of Muttukadu and Kundrukadu are covered by floating and emergent plants. Around 50% of Kelambakkam wetland had vegetation. However, Nemilichery salt pans are clean without any vegetation.

Planted saplings

Meanwhile, the State Forest Department has planted 4,000 tall and native seedlings along a 3-km stretch on the banks of the Buckingham canal and Muttukadu backwaters at Navalur to revitalise riverine ecosystem and biodiversity.

Plants like Terminalia Arjuna (neer marudhu), Syzygium Cumini (naval), Thes- pesia Populnea (poovarasu), Ficus Racemosa (aththi), Iluppai and others have been planted under Tamil Nadu Biodiversity and Greening Project for Climate Change Response, said Supriya Sahu, secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forest department, in a social media post.

“Another 16,000 saplings have been planted over 15 hectares in Avadi in the catchment areas of Cooum. These are being maintained by the department. These riparian forests offer benefits like augmenting green cover, acting as soil binders, improving biodiversity and controlling erosion,” she added.

Booming real estate

Earlier known for guest houses and re- sorts, the ECR has been a prime residential market during the last 10 years. According to Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) data, planning permissions have been given to as many as 75 high rise buildings (multi-storeyed buildings) on the stretch since 2006, while 37 of those planning permissions were given between 2013 and 2023.

Apart from these, planning permissions to several non-high rise buildings have also been given. Lack of proper sewage and solid waste management in the region, illegal discharge of sewage and dumping of garbage in the water bodies is rampant. Moreover, sewage and garbage from residential buildings on Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) are also being dumped by private tanker owners.

Meanwhile, the planning authority has a proposal to increase the FSI (Floor Space Index) of spaces classified as aquifer recharge areas. As per the Second Master Plan, Kottivakkam, Palavakkam, Neelankarai, Okkiam Thoraipakkam, Injambakkam, Karapakkam, Sholinganallur and Uthandi have been notified as Aquifer Recharge Area. Presently, CMDA allows 1 FSI for natham land and economically weaker section (EWS) plots with an extent of 80 sqm and 0.80 FSI for others with an extent of 400 sqm.

If the FSI increases in the area, the number of residential units will also increase resulting in a huge influx of population. Due to the excessive borewell water usage by multi-storeyed buildings in the area, there’s sea water intrusion for around 700 metres.

The limits of total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, sodium and potassium in the groundwater have exceeded the acceptable limits between Tiruvanmiyur to Muttukadu. The average pH is 8.86 (7 is the acceptable standard), TDS reached up to 1,200 mg/L (500 mg/L is the standard), and sodium content was 362 mg/L (the acceptable limit is 200 mg/L). Potassium has reached 176.4 mg/L against the limit of 12 mg/L, as per a study.

A recent survey reveals…

According to the TN Synchronized Bird Estimate 2024, around 79% of total birds counted during the population estimation exercise were wetland birds. Over 6.80 lakh birds covering 389 bird species were found, of which 120 species are found to be water birds and the remaining 269 are terrestrial bird species.

Out of the total bird count, the survey found that 5.36 lakh are water birds and 1.43 lakh are terrestrial birds. Of 5.36 lakh water birds, waders, gulls and terns were found to be higher with 1,73,294 count.

On the other hand, pelicans, bitterns, egrets, herons, ibises and spoonbills comprise 1,65,635 individuals. There are 69,913 waterfowls (ducks) sighted during the census. Of the total wetland birds, more than 2.31 lakh were migratory wetland birds.

During the drive, 118 species were seen in Chengalpattu division under which ECR wetlands fall under. There were 16,859 birds in the division. As per wetland bird census conducted in January 2023, the number of wetland birds estimated was 4.66 lakh.