Navi Mumbai — After another group of monsoon revellers became stranded on the Pandavkada hill range in Kharghar, environmentalists have again urged the state to convert the area into a properly managed eco-tourism and water-conservation zone.
In an e-mail to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, NatConnect Foundation and the Kharghar Hill & Wetlands Forum argued that the Forest Department’s blanket ban on entry is ineffective. “The range is too vast to police, and visitors find their ways up,” said Jyoti Nadkarni, convenor of the forum.
A detailed eco-tourism plan prepared years ago by the Forest Department “has mysteriously been left to gather dust,” added B. N. Kumar, director of NatConnect.“For years, we’ve asked CIDCO and the Forest Department to introduce basic safety checks at the waterfalls. Why must visitors risk their lives for a day’s outing?”
The Forest Department has already built a boundary wall, ticket counter and changing rooms near the main cascade, but the facilities remain unused, Nadkarni noted.
Activists say that, if properly managed, Pandavkada could relieve pressure on overcrowded monsoon hotspots such as Lonavala, Khandala and Malshej Ghat.“Why travel so far when Navi Mumbai has equally spectacular falls?” Kumar asked.
Beyond tourism, the groups want the government to harvest the hill runoff before it drains into the creek.“A holding pond could feed the falls year-round, and large-scale rainwater harvesting is feasible along the Kharghar–Belapur–Parsik ridge,” Kumar said.
They have also urged the revival of the long-pending nature-park project for the Belapur–Kharghar hills, positioning Navi Mumbai as a holistic eco-tourism hub showcasing its mangroves, wetlands, flamingo habitats, hills, waterfalls and creeks.
In their letter, the activists asked Fadnavis to convene an urgent coordination meeting involving the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, BNHS, CIDCO, NMMC, the Forest Department, police and local environmentalists. An online petition to the chief minister is already underway.