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MUMBAI’S COASTAL ROAD PROJECT
Demonstrating social inequity and ecological ignorance in an era of climate change
By Bittu Sahgal
As a wildlife conservationist, an environmentalist, and
an individual who would like to gift India’s youth a safe
future, the myopic plan to construct a high-cost coastal
road in Mumbai is cause for alarm. The failure to recognise
the environmental threats posed by the project, and the
danger to the communities living closest to the coast is a
sad testament to the failing moral ideals of this country’s
planners. Of the many reasons why this project must be
stopped, the most pressing are as follows.SOCIAL INEQUITY
A colossal Rs. 11,300 crores has been earmarked for a project
that will cater to only a small percentage of the city’s car-
owning elite. As a functioning welfare state, taxpayers’ money
should most certainly be spent on improving the quality of life
of the public. Mumbai’s sub-urban railway is the busiest rapid-
transit system in the world, carrying an estimated 7.5 million
commuters daily. Those who travel by the local train, know
that overcrowding is a serious problem, and that every year
an average of 2,000 individuals die on the network. Investing
resources in strengthening the existing railway network, and
boosting other public transport systems such as the metro
in the interest of safety and public good, should take priority
over providing a scenic drive for the seven per cent of rich
motorists in the city.
The proposed road also takes little cognizance of the fact
that it will destroy the livelihoods of many of Mumbai’s fi shing
communities who are dependent on the natural resources
nurtured by coastal mangroves. The road aligned through
the fi sh drying yards of these communities, will obstruct the
jetties used by the fi sherfolk, destroy the breeding grounds of
numerous marine species through the destruction of mangroves,
involve massive construction, and rob many of Mumbai’s 23
fi shing villages access to their ‘ecological commons’ – the coast- on which they depend. These factors have been well described
by Shweta Wagh (see box on page 26) in her assessment of the
‘Impacts of the Coastal Road on Mumbai’s Koliwadas.’
VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE
The project requires the reclamation of 168 ha. of public land,
much of which is occupied by mangroves. These mangroves
act as natural barriers against the forces of nature, such as
storms and tsunamis, which are increasingly being exacerbated
by global climate change. The destruction of mangroves, as
well as beaches, will render the coasts acutely vulnerable
to the most extreme impacts of natural phenomena. The
proposed ‘compensation’ of planting ‘three-times’ the number
of mangroves that are destroyed for the project are facetious.
Studies have time and again proven that the ecological value
of old and natural-growth forests cannot be ‘compensated’
or replaced. Further, the project proposal does not take into
account the very probable scenario of fl oods caused byMumbai’s increasingly volatile monsoon. The alignment of the
road, hugging the city’s coast, will mean that rising sea levels
could easily inundate railway lines and roads, in the absence of
the natural buff er provided by beaches and mangroves.
It should be noted that the EIA report on this project has
recognised the above points and mentioned that the disastrous
Mithi river fl oods of 2005 that claimed the lives of over 5,000
people was due to the ‘systematic destruction of mangroves in
the city’. This point alone should be enough to stall the project.POOR GOVERNANCE
By disregarding the above points, and those made by my
colleagues in opposition to the project, the issue of the
dilution of environmental laws and poor governance, in favour
of short-term gains for a few as opposed to long-term
benefi ts for the many, has raised its head.
The project, if cleared, will violate a number of laws
including, but not limited to, rules set by the Coastal Zone
Management Programme, the Coastal Regulation Zones
notifi cation of 2011, and the Wetland Rules 2010. Beyond
that, in a matter of disgraceful conduct, the proposal was
circulated to fi shing communities, who will be impacted by the
project, for comments in English, with no Marathi translation.
Thus, deliberately keeping stakeholders in the dark.
I would also like to add that to claim that this is a
project of ‘national importance’ is to display a fl agrant
misunderstanding of what ‘national importance’ truly is.
Securing the environment for future generations, protecting
the public from the worst impacts of climate change,
investing in public transport, empowering poor communities,
and protecting ecological assets are in ‘national importance’.
Spending public money on an elite project, is not.
With this, I would like to state my unequivocal opposition
to Mumbai’s proposed Coastal Road Project, and plead that
the funds allocated to it be redistributed towards making
Mumbai an effi cient, safe city for all.The proposed road also takes little cognizance of the fact that it will
destroy the livelihoods of many of Mumbai’s fi shing communities who are
dependent on the natural resources nurtured by coastal mangroves.Sanctuary |Cover Story More at http://www.sanctuaryasia.com |Cover Story
SAURABH SAWANT