Over the last one week, having seen all the news on TV, and read the same in the newspapers, I have, rather the city of
Mumbai has always been a city which has really been unconcerned with its environment. Yes, we have people like the BNHS, and the WWF-Mumbai, who are always making comments about how the environment in the city has been steadily degraded, and how it would eventually harm us. But no, we wouldn't listen to them, and why should we? Caring for the environment was for the rich and the famous, not for the middle class and the lower classes. After all, who else has the time and energy to devote to such causes when one has a army of mouths to feed every month? So, we continued to dump our garbage in the open nullahs, silently encouraged the construction explosion that has wracked the city, and in the process, weakened those forces which actually protected us.
Not many of us are aware of the existence of a unique ecosystem at the very edges of our city, where the ocean meets the islands. The marshy mangroves, traditionally, and very rightly associated with the stink of a sewer, actually are amongst the most diverse and most useful ecosystems in the world. These mangroves function as the filters of our filth, the sickening sludge that we send into the ocean, and in the process maintain some semblance of cleanliness. Very recently, it was proven that in those areas of Tamil Nadu where the mangroves were not destroyed, the tsunami's force had a nearly 40% diminished intensity, and to say the least, the casualties in such areas also were minimal.
But then, who the hell cares about some stinky mangroves? Fine, let's look at the Mithi river now. Originating from Virar lake, this rivulet snakes through most of the western suburbs, and finally empties itself in the Mahim bay. Most of the city's major drains flow into this natural drainage stream. However, over the years, rapacious building activity on either side of the river has narrowed the river's width, and has transformed the once-massive river into a pale shadow of its former self. When the Bandra-Worli Sea Link was being constructed, or rather when the process started, 4.7 hectares of land was deemed necessary to be reclaimed for structural integrity purposes. The Government reclaimed 47 hectares of land, and in the process nearly blocked the river's path to the ocean.
And this has now caused the havoc that we are all seeing in the western suburbs. The rains have caused the source of the Mithi, the Virar lake, to overflow, causing a cascade of water to gush towards the sea. The narrow banks of the river cannot hold this quanta, and overflow as expected, flooding the adjoining areas. The city's drains find themselves blocked, and hence the waters that ought to be drawn away from the affected areas are pushed back towards the same areas. And then the river being deprived of an outlet to the sea, can only push against the reclaimed land, but to no avail. So the waters again flow back towards the source, and the result is there for all to see. The flooded Kalina and Andheri areas now have borne the brunt of the fury of the desecrated river.
Many have postulated that what this city needs is a good drainage system. Unfortunately, that's only half of the solution. Unless the government improves the efficiency of the existing system, any additions to it will be money thrown down the drain. Also, there is need to stop the destruction of the mangroves, which in the end, can prevent flooding by drawing the waters into the marshy lands. And last but not the least, there is need to restore the Mithi river to normalcy, maybe not to its fullest, as that remains an impossible dream, but maybe to a level wherein the river can execute its natural functions effectively and to everyone's benefit.
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