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 10th
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 3rd 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
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