Goregaon reserve escapes axe, lease to be renewed

MUMBAI: City's conservationists have reason to rejoice. The renewal of the Bombay Natural History Society’s (BNHS) lease on their 33-acre Goregaon reserve appears imminent a day after TOI highlighted uncertainty on the matter.
On Sunday, MLA Ashish Shelar approached CM Devendra Fadnavis on the BNHS Nature Reserve issue and received an assurance on paper that the lease renewal, pending since 2013, would be fast-tracked. Shelar estimates that the renewal process would be complete in one and a half months.

The state government leased the land to the BNHS in 1983 for conservation activities. The BNHS launched the Conservation Education Project in 1993 and set up the Conservation Education Centre (CEC) on the reserve in 1997, which draws 20,000 visitors annually for guided trails, summer camps and nature courses.

On Sunday, TOI published an article about the lapsed lease, describing how over 35 years, the BNHS transformed the degraded land into a pristine forest visited by spotted and barking deer, leopards, wild boars and exotic birds like the oriental dwarf kingfisher. Shelar, who visited the reserve as a schoolboy, claims that the TOI article drew his attention to the issue and he immediately presented a letter to the CM. “The CM was very positive. He said ‘We will do it immediately’,” said Shelar.

In his letter, Shelar highlighted the BNHS’s “pioneering work over the last 135 years in the area of conservation and biodiversity research” and mentioned that renowned Indian ornithologist and naturalist (the late) Salim Ali was a key member of the BNHS. He said the CM’s visit to the BNHS headquarters in March and his assurance that the lease would be renewed had “gladdened the hearts of millions of nature conservationists across India”.

In response, the CM forwarded the letter to the chief secretary with the remark, “Do the needful immediately”. Shelar is planning to organize a joint meeting with the chief secretary after May 12 to take the matter forward. “It’s really heartwarming to see how much love and affection people have for this society,” said BNHS director Deepak Apte. “It is an endorsement of what we have being doing for the last 135 years.” Raju Kasambe, who is in charge of the CEC, said he is looking forward to getting the lease renewed. “This will really inspire us to work even harder.”