29 June,2023 08:03 AM IST | Mumbai | Eshan Kalyanikar
Tightly-packed settlements at Suryanagar, which is prone to landslides. Pics/Eshan Kalyanikar
The arrival of the rains has robbed residents of the hilltop slums of Vikhroli's Suryanagar of sleep. Ever since two major landslides occurred in the area, in 2017 and 2021, costing life and property, residents have to scout for alternative shelter during the three rainy months. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials have made it clear to the locals that in the case of loss of life or property, the civic body cannot be held responsible. This year too, notices were pasted at several spots in Suryanagar as well. "But finding a house is difficult," said Ranjana Narwade, who has been living in a single room with her husband and their 23-year-old son, Aakash, for the past twenty years. "Nobody wants a tenant for such a short duration," she added.
In 2021, the BMC identified 291 landslide-prone spots in the city. Annually, the civic body starts making announcements in such areas by April and May, asking the residents to vacate their homes due to the risk to their lives.
The entrances of these houses face the hill and in the event of a landslide, the only escape route is blocked
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After searching for two months, it is only now that the family found a room on rent, but their new accommodation is in the same area. It is located closer to sea level than their old residence, where the risk of damage is less. The delay in finding a house, however, came at a significant cost as the rent is Rs 3,000 per month.
On Monday, heavy stones and mud came rolling down the mountain and slammed into the back of the Narwades' house. Fortunately, there was no damage due to the metal barriers they had erected a month earlier. "The barriers aren't as strong as they used to be. Any additional amount of mud and stones can easily break through our wall," said Aakash. He works as a delivery person for Zepto while his father paints houses.
In light of the risk and sleepless nights, the family is planning to move to Gujarat permanently in a few months, once they save a little more money. The Jamne family, who lives very close to the Narwades, saw their worst fear come to life two years ago.
Aakash Narwade (left), Ranjana and a friend, who helped the family find a temporary house in Suryanagar
"My 11-year-old son was trapped in the house for four hours when the mud came sliding down," says Archana Jamne, a single mother, who works as a security person at a construction company in Thane. She tried searching for a temporary house but gave up after a few attempts. It was very difficult to search for a home while managing work, she added.
Apart from monetary factors, another reason why the residents do not want to relocate anywhere besides a safer area within Suryanagar is their children's education. Vidya Shelar, the mother of two daughters, aged 11 and 16, said, "We constantly live in fear, but if we move from here, where will our children go to school?"
Most Suryanagar residents send their children to schools located just a few steps away from their houses. However, there are no nearby hospitals. "No ambulances can reach the upper end of the hill, and fire brigades do not come here either. We are left on our own to carry out rescues. People gather around and help each other out if someone gets stuck under a pile of mud that comes sliding down the mountain. Then, the victims are taken to the main roads wrapped in a bedsheet and then to the hospital," said Shweta Jadhav, a resident whose house is also located on the upper end of the locality. She works as a ward attendant at Lilavati Hospital.
Her mother added that nobody wants to live in such a situation. "What option do we have? We don't have the financial capacity to go anywhere else," she said. The family moved to the area 23 years ago from Mahabaleshwar in search of employment. Shweta's father, Chandrakant, recalled that a person from their village used to live in the house they currently reside in. Asked if he believes the locals in the area share responsibility for the dangerous situation they are facing, he said, "Where will we go then? We are all daily-wage earners. We cannot afford a better house. Nobody wants to live here in constant fear of death. We are forced to because of our circumstances."
There is one complaint voiced by all the locals mid-day spoke with: every politician who visits the area seeks votes, promising locals a better life, but nothing happens once they come to power.
In the area, several retaining walls constructed by the public works department and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) make the news after collapsing during the monsoon. Rajeshwari Redekar, a former corporator of the area, does not shy away from blaming the residents for all their woes. "They keep digging into the mountain even beyond the retaining wall, creating a risk of collapse."
She disregards the difficulties in finding temporary housing and expects the residents to relocate to a different locality until the end of the rainy season. "The BMC tells them very clearly that they need to evacuate their homes but many don't," she said. According to BMC's Flood Preparedness Guidelines 2021, most landslide-prone areas, 152 in all, are in S ward, where Vikhroli is located; followed by N ward in Ghatkopar, which has 32 spots.
Like Suryanagar, many of these areas fall under the jurisdiction of either the forest department or the collector's office. Redekar believes that one plausible way to mitigate the risk of landslides and mudslides in Suryanagar is to have clear markings by the collector's office, under whose jurisdiction the land falls. These markings signify that action will be taken against any house constructed beyond the designated boundary. "But neither the BMC nor the collector's office is ready to do that," she added.
Archana Jamne, a single mother who works as a security person at a construction firm, at her house
Prabhat Rahangdale, former deputy municipal commissioner (disaster management), has a more practical approach. "The areas are so tightly packed that it is not feasible to make such markings. How many places are you going to mark? Legally speaking, there shouldn't be any settlement there in the first place," he said.
According to Rahangdale, when you excavate parts of the hill and establish a settlement on it, loose earth phenomena occur. "And then, because of the rain, the soil is shifted. Retaining walls are put in place to mitigate the damage," he said. However, more excavation leads to the collapse ofthese walls. Many families in Suryanagar have been living there for more than two decades. "Age-old residents had come to Mumbai in search of employment from faraway places. They found work nearby, as there are many industries, especially pharmaceutical factories, around here. The amount they had to pay was minimal," Aakash said.
And then the settlement kept expanding. There are now over 60,000 people living in the area in more than 25,000 houses, according to Redekar. "These settlements are unavoidable," Rahangdale said. "In the event of any disaster, it is the responsibility of the BMC to mitigate the situation. However, to solve the larger problem of encroachment, the owner of that particular [piece of] land, such as the collector's office or forest department, needs to address the issue."
The BMC has emergency assembly points, such as municipal corporation schools, in each landslide-prone area, but locals say these are inadequate, given the large number of residents and lack of facilities required for day-to-day living. "We are left to save ourselves. Nobody is going to come here," said Ranjana.
A retaining wall collapsed Wednesday morning in Suryanagar, but no damages to property or loss of life were reported. However, given the prediction of heavy rainfall in the next few days, the authorities have asked a few affected residents to immediately vacate their homes. One of them is the Jadhav family. Meanwhile, Jamne was at work during the time of the incident and is unaware that she will have to spend the next few nights at a shelter.
