Greens Upset Over ‘Dangerous’ Drone Shoot Of Flamingos In Netflix Movie

Environmentalists are protesting against the use of drones to film flamingos in a Netflix movie, ‘Sikandar ka Mukaddar.’ They argue that drones pose a threat to the birds, which are already vulnerable. The filming took place at TS Chanakya in Navi Mumbai, and the drone footage appears to disturb the resting bird

Environmentalists are up in arms against the use of drones to shoot flamingos, dangerously close to the birds, in a movie titled Sikandar ka Mukaddar, now being streamed on OTT platform Netflix.

The pink bird scene was shot at TS Chanakya in the flamingo city of Navi Mumbai, as one can make out with the background, NatConnect Foundation complained to the Mangrove Cell and the Maharashtra Chief Controller of Forests.

Talking to Bizz Buzz, NatConnect director BN Kumar said, “The flamingos’ scene appears in the timeline 1:03:44 to 1:03:54, obviously shot by a drone, flying over the flamingos resting on the wetland and mudflats.”

“We have no objection whatsoever to the featuring the beauty of flamingos in the movie, but the use of drones flying over the resting birds is certainly objectionable,” he said.

Drones with sharp blades a whirring noise that can disturb the resting birds, he said and pointed out that the flamingos could get grievously injured or even killed if they come in contact with the flying machines, Kumar said.

In fact, the mangrove cell had earlier ordered a probe against the drone shoots at TS Chanakya wetland following a complaint by NatConnect and fellow environmental groups.

“Flamingos figure in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) red list of near-threaded to vulnerable and hence it is the duty of human being to take care of them and not expose them to further dangers,” said Jyoti Nadkarni, an avid birder and convenor of Kharghar Wetlands and Hills group.

The green groups have, therefore, requested the authorities take up this serious issue legally with Netflix and the movie makers as well as the Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner, NRI Police Station and CIDCO.

The environmental groups have been campaigning to save flamingos and their abodes as part of the city’s biodiversity which is under constant threat.

In fact, the State government has even appointed a high-level committee to study and report ways to conserve one of the key flamingo destinations, the DPS Flamingo Lake. The committee report is awaited, Kumar added.

“This is a highly disturbing trend of using drones to videograph flamingos and it must be stopped immediately”, said Nandakumar Pawar, head, Sagar Shakti.

“As it is we are losing our wildlife, disturbing the ecological balance and now we are chasing away the migratory birds,” Pawar regretted.

He appealed to the Mangrove Cell to take a serious note of this and save flamingos and their destinations as per the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary Management Plan 2020-2030.