The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Eknath Shinde, mandated IAS Tukaram Mundhe (2005 batch), the incumbent secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry, to probe the sudden deaths of flamingos near the DPS lake of Navi Mumbai. As many as 10 flamingos had died and 5 were injured within a week, which sparked off apprehension in the minds of environment lovers and the NatConnect Foundation, who urged the state government to conduct a high-level inquiry concerning the sudden deaths of the majestic creatures.
The DPS lake is considered a favourable wetland for the flamingos to dwell when the water level at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS) rises beyond 15-18 cm. However, as the tidal water inlets to the DPS Flamingo Lake got choked owing to the road construction at the unused Nerul jetty, the wetland was not getting conserved properly. Experts and wildlife conservationists alike have pointed out that the burial of water inlets in these fragile wetlands is the most viable reason behind the death of the flamingos.
Mr. Tukaram Mundhe enjoys a reputation for being a very honest, hard-working and ‘non-nonsense’ IAS officer, who got transferred twenty times during his 18 years of service with the state bureaucracy.
