The surroundings are horribly unnerving even for a species dismissively called 'lesser flamingo': a five-acre mudflat surrounded by a crumbling old port, a ship breaking yard, two oil refineries, a fertilizer plant, and a sprawling slum. But this is where the glorious birds take their six-month sojourn every year starting from November, imparting a dash of pink to otherwise very grim surroundings. And when these pink splendours take to the sky, in compact formations of a few hundred birds, with a setting sun as the backdrop, the view is as spectacular as it can be. Sewri Bay was never the traditional natural habitat of these birds. The nomadic birds first appeared in Sewri Bay only in 1994. Even in those days the waters were heavily laden with heavy metals. Ashima Narain, who produced a much appreciated documentary In the Pink on these birds, says, "No one knows exactly where they come from, as no scientific study has been conducted so far. Their numbers vary from year to year, as they are nomadic birds - not migratory, as these are mistakenly called. Roughly, there can be from 10,000-20,000 flamingos." Why would the birds come to such a polluted area? Ashima explains, "To begin with, these are mudflats; it is a saline and alkaline environment - fulfilling all the three conditions that are required for flamingo feeding. Secondly, the regular discharge of domestic waste into the Bay from the nearby slums rich in nitrogen and phosphorous encourages growth of algae, the staple of flamingos. This provides ample feeding opportunities to the flamingos. All birds, not just flamingos, are opportunistic. And regardless of the whereabouts of the food: if they can eat - they will eat." But regular feasting on food which is contaminated with heavy metals seems to be finally taken a toll of their constitution through bio-accumulation. In fact, in May this year the first victim of pollution - a critically ill 'lesser flamingo' - was found collapsed in Sewri area. It was brought to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals hospital in Parel where it has recovered. The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has taken water samples from the area for chemical analysis. The report of the analysis is awaited. Not only health of the birds but their dwindling number is also a cause of worry for the city's bird lovers. The Conservation Action Trust (CAT), which along with the state forest department, had launched the city's first scientific study on the flamingos reported that this year only about 5,000 of these birds came to Mumbai as against the usual 15,000 to 20,000 till last year. Apart from the menace of pollution, the birds have to contend with another threat: the 22-km six-lane Sewri-Nhava Sheva sea link. This link, planned to connect the island city to the mainland at Nhava Sheva across Mumbai harbour, will vitiate the lush mangrove and scare the birds away. Debi Prasad Goenka of CAT says that the link is not needed at all. "Now that the Reliance SEZ which was to benefit most from this link is virtually scrapped, there is no need of this link," he adds. Though the sea link has been postponed for want of funds its threats looms large over Sewri Bay. ?