Mithi River - Our Past, Present and Future

Ghanan Ghanan Ghir Ghir Aaye Badra!

It’s that time of the year again! June is here and brings with it excitement and romance like none other. It brings an end to sweltering heat and summer vacations. It brings relief even to those who will suffer on its account. It brings life. It brings rain. Monsoon has come to Mumbai!

This is in particular an unpleasant time for local authorities, MMRDA and MCGM, who get an epic grilling about potholes on roads, clogged-up storm-water drains and the bane of season - the Mithi River.

26 July 2015 will mark the 10^th anniversary of the deluge that devastated Mumbai, claiming a thousand lives and causing damages worth billions. Nine years after Mumbai rediscovered its river, what have we done? What has really changed on ground? Kya ukhad liya? And what if the rains came down like they did and the tides rise to match the terror of 26/7? 

Short answer – We are much better prepared. The Mithi has been widened and its carrying capacity has been significantly increased. It’s still not as wide as recommended, but it’s much better off. In plac

es where it was difficult to widen, the government decided to deepen it despite expert advice against this strategy. But, at least they did something. Kam se kam - Kuch toh kiya.

The Mithi River Estuary at Bandra Kurla Complex

The government’s stance since day one has been defensive. Their unwavering focus was on preventing a repeat of 26/7 and the loss of human life.  At any cost, the government must never be blamed for it. This defensive mind-set manifested in the form of over-engineered walls along the length of the river. These tall, monolithic, and lifeless walls have robbed the city of a river and its river banks. The Mithi River of today resembles a canal more than a river. A canal of black water better known colloquially as a ‘nullah’. The mindless rock-blasting at the Mahim Bay is also reflective of the approach and priorities of the government.

The river has been walled-in on both banks and now looks like nullah

Nullah is an appropriate word to describe the Mithi that has carried millions of tonnes of garbage and billions of litres of sewage and industrial effluent ever since the first slums settled on its banks. For decades, this river which courses through the most populated slums of in the city’s armpit has quietly and thanklessly suffered abuse at the hands of Mumbai. It took a paralysing deluge to get noticed albeit as the villain of 26/7. The truth is that it carries so much garbage and sewage – the obligatory duty of the MCGM and MMRDA — that it actually has saved the government millions over the years and continues to do so even today! But, apart from building walls and digging deeper and wider, the government has done next to nothing to stop the pollution from entering the river in the first place.

The Mithi River forced to bend at right angles in succession between the airport and BKC

The airport has bent the river most ruthlessly and even squeezed it under the runway

Activists have played their part too. Saving mangroves, questioning de-silting, build-quality and expenditure on the river. They have been a formidable adversary for the government, armed with RTI and knowledgeable and concerned citizenry resource. We know their contributions from the many articles that get published around this time of the year on the Mithi River. Almost all these articles point fingers of blame towards the government with accusations of corruption and poor execution of works. This is sunshine time for many activists and it conveniently provides the masala and tadka that our media is after. Somehow I am not convinced about this approach for bringing about change. Nine years on and the finger pointing and blame game continues.

Where are the great ideas that transform cities? 

Where is the research from schools and universities to transform the river into something beautiful? 

Where are the big thinkers? Not mohalla big. Global Big.

As I say this, NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) has made a public presentation about some of their exhaustive research over the past few years and during this discussion some really good ideas for a makeover of the Mithi emerged. In May 2011, the Observer Research Foundation Mumbai released a study titled ‘Making the Sewer a River Again ~ Why Mumbai Mumbai must Reclaim its Mithi’. This was the first comprehensive study of the Mithi’s history which begins with the Mauryans in the 3^rd century BCE and in in the midst of countless battles on land and sea involving clans and kings and foreign invaders. The forts of Mahim, Dharavi, Bandra and Sion were are all constructed along the banks of the Mithi River or at its mouth where it meets the Arabian Sea. For thousands of years its water flowed pure and abundant with life. This study traced its journey through the maddening urbanization and chaos that became Mumbai as we know it today. A period that saw a magnificent estuary and river being contorted and reduced to a drain for the reclamation that gave us the Bandra-Kurla complex and the Airport. The revealed to us the Mithi in its truest form – the unsung hero of Mumbai and a tireless and free municipal service provider. It even provided land when the city needed an airport and a new business centre.

This was also the first study to provide a comprehensive makeover plan for the Mithi River derived from international best-practices that were carefully sieved through an Aamchi Mumbai filter. The grand vision was centred around and 18-km long Mithi River Park Corridor – a 50m wide, unbroken passage on both sides of the river along its entire length. This would give Mumbai a brand-new, 450 acre park and put it at par with London and NewYork. The corridor would be a pedestrian and cyclist-only zone that would run through the busiest parts of the city with populations that prefer to walk and cycle. It was envisioned as a grand trunk and connector of destinations. It would connect to nearby railway stations, bus stops, metro stations, malls, hospitals, markets, courts, playgrounds and parks, government buildings and anything that wanted in. It would become both a destination as well as a connector of destinations. The study also observed that a substantial amount of land along the banks was available to build such a corridor and in places that it was difficult, like the airport, there could be connections through bridges and boardwalks. This River-Park Corridor was good for everyone. Everybody stood to gain, even the slum dwellers along its banks. It gave recommendations to make the river biologically thriving once again and to make it flow all year round by using the water of Powai Lake.

Illustration of the proposed Mithi River Park Corridor - 450 unbroken acres of a pedestrian and cyclist park from Borivali to Mahim

The study was received well by government at the centre, state and local level. Even the pollution control board was interested. Predictably, there was little movement. Three years on and the  government has only done some beautification of the river at BKC along the lines of this study. And even today the government continues to call for ideas for the redevelopment of the Mithi in patches which is most baffling!

The Mithi does not need a re-development of concrete and steel – it needs a softer and more organic makeover based on principles of placemaking as suggested by the ORF study. The Mithi makeover can become the most jaw-dropping transformation in modern India. All it takes in political will. All that takes is support from the citizenry. Cities around the world with have restored and celebrated their rivers that were once as bad as the Mithi. You too can have your own river and enjoy it every day. Come support the proposal for a Mithi River Park Corridor. Demand it hard enough and you might just get it. 

Kya boltai?

Movie Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4tYtd-4PR4

Report Link: http://www.indiawaterportal.org/sites/indiawaterportal.org/files/why_mumbai_must_reclaim_its_mithi_gautam_kirtane_orf_2011.pdf

Azad Maidan Clean-Up: Its not enough!

 As part of World Environment Day celebrations on 6 June 2014, the Observer Research Foundation Mumbai organised a clean-up drive at Azad Maidan, Mumbai. Our researchers and interns worked hand-in-hand with an enthusiastic bunch of local hawkers who decided to shut shop, clean-up and keep working till the job was done. Even cricketers in whites—both young and old—and pedestrian commuters who number in the hundreds of thousands each day chipped in with a sweep of a broom and a stroke of a paint brush. In four hours flat we had taken a chronic problem area of an iconic maidan—littered with garbage and reeking of urine—and turned it around to into an oasis where pedestrian commuters can pause for a breather or sit in the shade and open their lunch boxes. It was an honest effort from all those who participated. We did what we did without expectation of reward or a pat on the back. It was a rare event where nobody called the press and yet they turned up.

We felt proud to clean-up a maidan on which our martyrs’ blood was spilled in the first War of Independence in 1857. Two sepoys, Sayyed Hussein and Mangal Cadiya were executed by canon fire in full public view to be made an example of. It had the reverse effect and the incident stirred a great city and nation into fighting for freedom and self-rule. This very ground saw several rallies, agitations and protests in support of the freedom movement including the largest pre-independence rally addressed by Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 before his departure for England. 

As cricket lovers, many felt privileged to clean-up the birthplace of Indian cricket. Indeed it was this ground that hosted the first ever test match played on Indian soil in 1933 between England and India. India was led by the legendary C.K Nayadu and despite India’s loss, Lala Amarnath scored a century in front of a crowd of 50,000! This ground has given India a galaxy of cricketers which were bred from the Giles and Harris Shield, Times Shiled, Purushottam Shield, Kanga League and even the now discontinued Bombay Pentangular tournament.

It felt fulfilling to toil together in the summer heat making a public place more beautiful, safer and friendlier for people who we would never know or meet in our lives. The pedestrian walkway between CST and Churchgate cuts through Azad Maidan and Cross Maidan. It sees several million footfalls each year through sun and rain. These pedestrian commuters have no respite from the elements or cricket balls that knock them down every now and then. Even the walkway itself is more potholes than bitumen. It felt great to be able to patch two large potholes just at the mouth of the maidan so close to the rains. All it needed was two bags of cement and some rubble that we found on the maidan itself.

The pile of garbage that we stacked up after 4 hours of cleaning remained still remains on the ground. We could not lift it out as barriers at the entrance prevented passage of our wheel bins. We felt cheated. The waste remained there even on the next day and the day after that. Indeed, we realised that there is no designated garbage sweeping and collection authority for the maidan! How can this be? A historic venue and one of the largest open spaces in the heart of the India’s busiest central business district has been allowed to spatially degenerate and rot in piles of uncollected garbage and open defecation! Turns out that’s exactly how it stands. The MCGM that typically cleans up public places including maidans won’t cater to Azad Maidan because it does not belong to them. The Public Works Department (PWD) owns the ground but does not clean because that’s not what the PWD does and it has not staff to clean grounds. Besides the management of the ground and the 22 cricket pitches and tents lies with the School Education and Sports Department which has no budget to clean up the ground or to employ security guards. Indeed the Azad Maidan has been seemingly orphaned by all those who are supposed to look out for it and its users—Mumbaikars. Us.

Obviously, a one-day clean-up operation on a section of the maidan is not the final solution. It did the job of raising awareness about the right issues and generated momentum which needs to be channelized. So we decided to have a word with Mr. Mohan Adtani, Additional Municipal Commissioner of the MCGM and with Smt. Ashiwini Bhide, Secretary of the School Education and Sports Department – the most important stakeholders towards a sustainable solution to a decades-old problem. Both agencies received us well and both have taken a step in the right direction. They admitted that the garbage management, security and pedestrian comfort on Azad Maidan must be addressed swiftly. WE have urged them to call a joint meeting of all concerned agencies and thrash out the matter till a solution is found. It’s really not that difficult. The MCGM must begin garbage sweeping, collection and transportation in the maidan. It has to be them – this is what they are here for. The PWD along with the School Education and Sports Department must work towards the safety and comfort of the millions of pedestrians that walk through Azad and Cross Maidan. The Observer Research Foundation Mumbai along with Ratan J Batliboi Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Have presented a thoroughly researched makeover plan for the iconic makeover of Azad Maidan and August Kranti Maidan which can be used to identify short term and long-term improvements and makeovers on both maidans. One such component of the makeover is a semi-sheltered, pedestrian walkway through Azad Maidan and Cross Maidan including a priority pedestrian crossing on MG Road (Fashion Street) and through Khau Galli (Lane of Street Food) ending at New Marine Lines. This 450m of pedestrian infrastructure will positively impact the lives of several hundred million Mumbaikars each year who walk through the maidan. It will protect them from the sun and rain and sweetly-timed cricket balls. It will make their commute to work pleasurable. It will give them the opportunity to catch a bit of cricket action on Bombay Gymkhana and Azad Maidan. But most of all it will give them a sense of dignity as pedestrians and equals in a city that is predominantly built for the rich. Join us in support of such makeovers which are begging to be put in place. Makeovers that citizens need and the government is happy to oblige. Yet they never see the light of day because they are missing a champion. Come join the effort. Be the champion of the change you want to see. Only Mumbaikars can make Mumbai a World-Class city! It begins with YOU!