Mumbai: Environmental groups observing International Mountain Day on Sunday issued a strong warning over the rapid degradation of the Kharghar hill ranges, cautioning that unchecked development and official neglect could cause irreversible ecological damage.
Cycling Rally and Public Signature Campaign Highlight Concerns
Green activists organised an uphill cycling rally and a public signature campaign near the Pandavkada Waterfalls to highlight the fragile hill ecosystem. Over 50 cyclists, including senior citizens, participated. “The large public turnout shows that people are increasingly worried about how fast our hills are disappearing,” said B N Kumar, director of NatConnect Foundation.
The Kharghar hills, home to the Pandavkada Waterfalls—one of the tallest urban waterfalls in the Mumbai metropolitan region—are widely recognised as a biodiversity hotspot. A year-long 2007 survey by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) documented exceptional ecological wealth in the area. “Despite intense urbanisation around it, the hills support rare and endangered plant species and a remarkable diversity of wildlife,” Kumar noted.
Environmentalists pointed out that quarrying, hill cutting, unregulated trekking and expanding real estate activity are steadily eroding the hill ranges. “In some places the hills are vanishing slowly, in others they are being destroyed brutally,” Kumar said, adding that “official apathy combined with public indifference has become a toxic mix for the environment.”
Nature Park Proposal Needs Urgent Implementation
The observance was organised by the Kharghar Wetlands and Hills group, Anubhuti365days and NatConnect Foundation, with support from the Panvel Forest Department and Panvel Municipal Corporation. The cycling rally from Utsav Chowk to Fanaswadi was aimed at reviving the long-pending Nature Park proposal. “The Nature Park plan already exists. What is missing is the will to implement it,” said Jyoti Nadkarni, convenor of the Kharghar Wetlands and Hills Forum.
Activists also criticised proposals for large-scale residential and commercial development on the Kharghar Hill Plateau. “A concrete-heavy township cannot coexist with a Nature Park,” Nadkarni said, warning that increased population load, traffic and pollution would further destabilise the ecosystem.
Rising Human–Wildlife Conflicts Raise Alarm
Rising incidents of human–wildlife conflict were another major concern. “Leopards, jackals and snakes are entering residential areas because blasting and hill fragmentation are destroying their habitats,” Nadkarni said, adding that several tribal hamlets in the hill region would be directly affected by further development.
Calling mountains vital for biodiversity, water security and climate stability, Sudeep Athavale, director of Anubhuti365days, said, “If we do not act now, we risk losing an entire living ecosystem. Once hills are destroyed, they cannot be recreated.”
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