It was quite a struggle to find the entry to the Salt Pans. Navigating through narrow roads flanked by rows of houses we reached a dead end and were about to turn back when I noticed a broken gate at the end of the road. Going through it revealed the wide-open “salt pan” world captured in the picture above. 

     The Thane Salt Pans have a variety of habitats - open waterbody amidst vast stretches of brown, dry grasses, occasional charred ground hinting at attempted regrowth. Along the water’s edges, patches of greenery blend into wetlands and mangroves, punctuated by a few large trees. And in the distant hazy horizon looms the urban skyline reminding one of the city just left behind.

Used to long bird walks I soon discovered that I could only walk about 200 metres and back. Being able to photograph 15 species in 2 hours from this small up and down walk was therefore a surprise. I was not able to find the entry point to a path along the other side of the water body, 

Incidentally this location is marked currently (October 2026) as permanently closed on the google map