First it was farmers and now it is flamingos. Yet another Tata
project has run into rough weather, this time in Africa. Tata
Chemicals’ soda ash project at Kenya is ruffling quite a few
feathers. Conservation groups claim that it threatens the
survival of the entire East African population of lesser
flamingos. The project involves mining 500,000 tonnes/year soda
ash at Lake Natron in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya.
Conservationists say that the lake is the only East African site
where the lesser flamingo has bred in the past 45 years. A draft
environmental impact assessment of the project has reportedly
said the project would pose a significant environmental risk to
the 500,000 lesser flamingos that breed there each year. What
would you like to see on your next Kenyan safari – a modern soda
ash facility or thousands of pink birds?