How will Mumbai be like in 2030?

In first roundtable of mid-day’s campaign on ideas to make the city better, administration promises development will not be at the cost of environment

The administration in Maharashtra will work towards ensuring that any infrastructure development that happens in the city will not be at the cost of our environment. This is the commitment that came from Manisha Patankar-Mhaiskar, principal secretary, Department of Environment and Climate Change in the state government, at the mid-day For Mumbai roundtable that was held on April 6.

This new campaign reinforces mid-day’s effort to bring about change in the city for the better, through ideas exchange and debates.

The first online panel discussion — Mumbai in 2030: World Class City or Ad Hoc Development Victim? — saw state representatives and key conservation voices, come together to share their thoughts on the ongoing Mumbai Metro and Coastal Road construction.

The panellists included Mhaiskar; RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA; Alan Abraham, architect and co-founder of Bombay Greenway; documentary photographer Chirodeep Chaudhuri; Stalin Dayanand, conservationist and director of environmental NGO Vanashakti; Dhaval Madhukar Shah, founding director of Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association and mid-day journalist and conservationist Ranjeet Jadhav.

“There is this notion that destruction of nature has to happen for development — that attitude has to change. The government has to have a desire to spend a little more. We feel that money is difficult to spend, but environment is cheaper to destroy,” shared Dayanand, while discussing how Mumbai’s authorities need to focus on “sustainable development”.

Admitting that “infra and environment cannot be in adversarial roles,” Mhaiskar said, “I am more convinced now that our department would [need] to bring these two sides [administration and citizens] together to ensure that development happens, but in sync with the environment. We need to find a balance.”

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Alan Abraham, architect and co-founder of Bombay Greenway

mid-day to Abraham: In the past, Bombay Greenway has suggested several tweaks to the Coastal Road project, solutions that you say are feasible. What is your biggest grouse with the current plan? 
Abraham: There are a couple of them [actually]. The basic concept is defeating. While the city does require its roads, it requires roads where the city is. And the city is on land, and not in the sea. Putting a road out in the sea is actually silly. This is the same with the MSRDC’s [Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited] Versova Bandra Sea Link Project (VBSLP). They are building a 9.8 km road in the sea, and to connect that road, which is 1 km out in the sea, they are building another 8.6 km of connector roads. So, you are building twice as much. The same number of roads and the same size of roads could have benefited the city within.
Also, if you going about reclaiming so much, it is going to be environmentally damaging. If you push the water, it is going to come back. Today, if you go to the Bandra Worli Sea Link, the entire promenade is locked up. This is what we are going to get [in the future] — A city full of locked up sea fronts, with minuscule promenades. If we are going to go through this project, it can be done in a much better way. We are seeing a future disaster. What we [at Bombay Greenway] are doing through our small interventions is saying that lets put the road towards the land where it is going to be more useful, and the same space, which is being reclaimed, can be used for coastal and tidal resilience to protect the city from surges, tsunami and floods. A few tweaks can make a huge difference. 

Chirodeep Chaudhuri, documentary photographer 

mid-day to Chaudhuri: Just two weeks ago on Instagram, you reached out to followers, asking if they knew friends from whose homes, one could view sections of the Coastal Road Project that is underway, as you’d like to take pictures from there. What are you hoping to document?
Chaudhuri: In the last 25 years of being an active journalist, photographer and observer of the city, what occupies my mind is not just how much of the city is changing, but how much of it, we have forgotten.

In 1999, I was commissioned by Sharada Dwivedi to document the Muslim neighbourhoods of Bombay. That book never happened, but I remember, starting to photograph Mohammed Ali Road, and literally seeing the [JJ Flyover] bridge come up. Those photos are now historic, because the younger generation can hardly remember what this road was. What I would like to see is a more concerted, and not ad-hoc, effort in documenting this city. There was a project called the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s in the US, and the government of that time had deployed a huge battery of photographers to go out, and document the impact of how new technology and Depression was impacting farming. This is what I would like to see here, as well. At present, there are so many projects happening. Do we have a photographic record of these changes?

The Dahisar-Andheri East Metro Line 7 is one of the two Metro lines expected to be ready later this year. Pic/Satej Shinde

The Haji Ali [Coastal Road Project documentation] really came out of that. It’s still in its formative stage. And while one can do this with the rest of the city, I think Haji Ali, gave me one real punch in the face. It bothered me the most — just to see an iconic view of the city disappear.

RA Rajeev, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA

mid-day to Rajeev: The infra push, many feel, is skewed towards the rich and the privileged. One of the foremost complaints is why aren’t we doing enough to make the city more walkable and pedestrian-friendly.
Rajeev: We are going through a very interesting phase in the city’s transformation. I can relate it with the days when all the seven islands were being reclaimed by the British. All the many development projects in the city are falling into a jig-saw puzzle, and the picture that will emerge in 2030 — I assure you — will not be an ad-hoc victimisation of Mumbai. We will definitely have a world-class, liveable city. Any such large-scale transformation, and that too in Mumbai, where we perform open-heart surgeries without giving it anaesthesia, takes time.

The first Metro line came up after 10 years, but that won’t happen with the other metro lines or the trans-harbour link. Despite uncertainties like COVID-19, we have not overstepped as far as time or budget is concerned. In fact, two metro lines will be inaugurated this year.

With regards to pedestrianisation, there are plans to open the Western and Eastern highways for pedestrian movement. We have also started developing cycle tracks in BKC. At present, in BKC, at least 10,000 people are using cycles. In addition to that, at three Metro stations, we have introduced public sharing cycles. We will continue developing more tracks. I keep telling cyclists, go on the roads, and reclaim your space.

What I am doing now is not just for the rich, I am also working for our public. Mumbai, all said and done, is a public transport city. Around 80 lakh people travel by locals in crushed density. The metro lines will create [an additional] capacity of 1.2 crore. This will definitely create ease of commute. And with all the private car owners using the coastal road, the city will open up and be much better soon.

Dhaval Madhukar Shah, founding director, Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizen’s Association

mid-day to Dayanand: You’ve been one of the forces behind the Save Aarey campaign; your relentless efforts finally met with success when the Metro car shed shifted out of Aarey Colony last year. Do you feel that citizens’ movements, like this one, can be real game-changers in the future? 
Dayanand: Yes, that was a historic battle. Citizens from all walks of life, stood shoulder to shoulder, and said, “These are our forests, and you cannot touch them.” There is also a message for the government here. These conflicts can be easily avoided in the future. What is happening today is that projects are being conceived by civil engineers. I had even asked the CMO’s office who was the scientist, advising them on their projects. And the reply was that “there is no such post”. So, obviously, you are going to have a conflict situation later on. Look at what is happening with the Coastal Road. No Mumbaikar was informed how the project was going to destroy coral colonies.

People’s movements make all the difference. Save Aarey, for instance, became a worldwide issue. Initially, we were branded as a group of “English-speaking activists”. But, when the trees were being cut, the tribals were the first ones to go and stop it. Getting criminal charges slapped against citizens resulted in nothing.
Mr Rajeev has shown a nice plan for Mumbai, but there are so many issues that [still] need to be addressed. We feel that this government is more sensitive towards conservation, and so, we are hopeful that some part of Mumbai’s natural heritage will be saved.

mid-day to Shah: Speaking of citizens’ movements, residents in Andheri West managed to get a Supreme Court stay on the bridge connecting Yari Road and Lokhandwala, because of the destruction it has been causing mangroves. Activism of this nature, receives its fair share of criticism. What do you have to say to that?
Shah: We believe in development that co-exists with nature. Recently, there was talk about the beautification of the Lokhandwala lake. We didn’t want it to suffer the fate of Bandra talao, which has [now] become a concrete jungle. That’s why we wrote to the authorities concerned. So yes, public has to be constantly engaged in how the city evolves.

Currently, there is no time-based restriction on any of the projects taking place across the city. A lot of projects have been delayed inordinately, and the only people suffering are the taxpayers. There is zero accountability. We need boards across the city [sharing details of those carrying out these projects] so that citizens are informed as to who is in charge of the work, and by when they will be completed.

Manisha Patankar-Mhaiskar, principal secretary, Department of Environment and Climate Change

mid-day to Mhaiskar: In 2019, a study published by Nature Communications, claimed that Mumbai, especially the south, was at the risk of being submerged by 2050. The article cautioned that coastal communities worldwide must prepare themselves for difficult times. Has the government considered this impending threat to Mumbai?
Mhaiskar: The government has been making a conscious effort to improve the city’s green cover. Our department has been studying a few of the developments related to Aarey and I think it is important to mention that in the last 60 years, Aarey lost about 40 per cent of its green cover to various deforestation projects. But now, what has happened is that the remaining forest, which is about 800 acres, is being protected under the Forest Act. Protecting one Aarey, though, is not sufficient. The city will need more urban forests, and vertical greens.  

We have all been discussing climate change, and it is real. At present, Mumbai is experiencing a heatwave. The city will have to become more carbon resilient [to tackle this]. As the city moves towards green, shared mobility [with the development of the Coastal Road and Metro] and also tackles its solid and liquid waste, a significant amount of these emissions will come down. We are also looking at creating an emerald necklace [mangroves, wetlands] along the city’s coastline, which will make the city more flood-proof and climate-resilient. [Apart from this] the department is [also] working on a whole new concept of protecting its heritage trees. But, it is still a policy, which is in progress.

I would say that if things go as planned, and more efforts are made, Mumbai will be a sustainable, green and liveable city, which is also constantly thinking about carbon neutrality.

Ranjeet Jadhav, mid-day journalist and conservationist

mid-day to Jadhav: One of the things we don’t speak of as much is how infra projects are indirectly increasing man-animal conflict, because green spaces are now shrinking by the dozen. Do you think Mumbai’s wildlife is in grave danger, and why so?
Jadhav: Since I cover wildlife and environment, I have had a chance to interact with researchers at Sanjay Gandhi National Park. This park, which is spread across 104 sqkm, has the highest density of leopard anywhere in the world. This is important in terms of conservation. Yes, we need our Metros and roads, but some of these linear infra projects are posing a huge threat to the wildlife. One can talk about roads on the periphery of SGNP and Aarey. Research shows that between 2008 and 2021, more than 25 leopards have died while crossing highways. Clearly, no proper mitigations measures have been undertaken. Infra agencies like MMRDA, MSRDC and NHAI [National Highways Authority of India] need to talk with forest officials. We need underpasses and overpasses, for the safe passage of animals.

mid-day: Are we going to reclaim more land to create new real estate?
Rajeev: The simple answer to that is no. So far as government policy is concerned, no land is being reclaimed for real estate. 

Mhaiskar: I would second Mr Rajeev. When the Coastal Road came to the MCZMA [Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority] for CRZ clearance, what worked in the project’s favour was the larger public interest aspect. So, I think, unless there is significant public interest in the project, there won’t be any more reclamation.

Dayanand: I slightly disagree with Mr Rajeev and Manisha ma’am. The MMRDA has already conducted surveys for construction on salt pan lands; these are our natural flood plains that prevent the city from flooding. If Mr Rajeev is committing not to touch these lands, it is good news.

Rajeev: He [Stalin] is wrong in saying that MMRDA is deciding on the salt pans. The surveys are being done on the suggestion of the Government of India, and it’s eventually for them to decide. Nothing is in the hand of MMRDA. But, if the salt pans are under CRZ I, nothing will happen to them. Manisha is the protector of it.

Where to watch?

Catch the discussion Mumbai in 2030 - World Class City or Ad-hoc Development Victim? on mid-day’s YouTube Channel. youtube.com/middayindia

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