The Hindu Business Line : Mumbai pays for neglecting Mithi river

"THE Government machinery failed as the city registered its heaviest rainfall since 1974. I have instructed the officials concerned to have better coordination between the BMC, Navy, Central and Western Railways, BEST, MTNL and the police," said Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister, Maharashtra and asked authorities to convene meetings of the Disaster Management Group at least twice a year, including one before the monsoon.

This was on July 14, 2000 and the story was not much different five years on. Many lives were lost on both occasions but the BSE Sensex remained bullish. The rains failed to rein in the sentiment as the sensitive index breached the 5,000 barrier in 2000, just as it went past 7,500 in 2005.

The other thread of commonality - the Mithi river, that carries both sewage and storm water to the sea, originating at Powai and ending at the Mahim Creek - was in spate on both occasions.

It has not helped that Mithi river is currently treated like an open drain by the citizens to discharge raw sewage, industrial waste and garbage. The organic waste, sludge and garbage dumping has reduced carrying capacity of Mithi river, according to a recent study by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.

This leads to the question whether large metropolises can change the course of its arterial river to accommodate its growing population? While cities such as London and Paris have ensured no disruption to their central waterways, Mumbai made sure that over the last few decades Mithi river, its answer to Thames and Sienne, got reduced to a mere gutter. And now, the residents of the city have paid a huge price for this act of omission.

"Mumbai, in its hurry to grow and add support systems, has been tinkering with nature. Thus, when the Mumbai Airport work began in the 1950s, the authorities had no hesitation in diverting the natural course of Mithi river. Some of the worst hit areas during the recent rains were situated along what should have been the Mithi river course," said Prof B. Arunachalam, eminent geographer and author of books on maritime history such as `Mumbai By Sea' and `Essays in Maritime Studies'.

As the river has been cut off by the country's premier airport on two sides, its runway is situated right in the middle of a depression. The Government cannot allow the destruction of mangroves, change the course of a river, as also not provide an alternative route for letting out of storm water and then blame nature for calamities such as this, he said.

Ironically, the Mahim bay area, where Mithi river meets Arabian sea, is a nominated bird sanctuary called Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. Today the river is reduced to a veritable gutter, where oil drums are illegally washed, hazardous wastes are dumped, ensuring the water is a mixture of sewage and industrial waste before it flows into the sea.

True, the Government is planning to re-assess the pollution level in Mithi river and improve its carrying capacity by dredging the river. The related issue would be the relocation of slums on the river embankments that have virtually dried up the river at certain points, leading to the present disaster. If the mistakes of 2000 and 2005 are not be repeated, the Government may need to act fast.

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