The Mumbai flood of 2005 was an indication of the effect of water pollution in the city. But the situation can be turned around to make it a win-win for all, says Anuj Puri

Despite the repeated claims of Mithi River Development and Protection Authority (MRDPA) to make the river risk and stench-free within the next two years, the progress has been far from satisfactory. It continues to be the sewage disposal stream for Mumbaikars, and the clean-up act — promised to start from June 2018 onward — has yet to see the light of the day.

In what could be called a saving grace, the authorities have been successful in preventing 2005-like floods in the city, or else this laxity in the river clean-up would have been embarrassingly highlighted. The authorities continue to pat themselves on the back for the deepening and widening of the river over the last decade at the cost of a whopping Rs 1,200 crore, which they claim has helped make the river ‘almost completely safe.’

Mumbai’s 15-kilometre-long Mithi River or Mahim River is formed by the confluence of tail-water discharges from the lakes in Powai and Vihar. Its source of origin is the Vihar Lake, whose overflow mingles with that of Powai Lake a couple of kilometres further on and terminates in the Arabian Sea at Mahim Creek. Along the way, it flows past several key residential and industrial areas and developments.

Even though mithi means sweet in Hindi, but the story surrounding the river has increasingly soured over the decades. While it served as a key stormwater drain for Mumbai earlier, the river has been gradually reduced to a dump yard for most locals who live along it. Also, being seasonal, it swells up during the monsoons and the mangrove plantations along the river have given way to concrete developments over the years. This is one of the major causes of floods in the city.

The highly-polluted river still presents considerable hazards to the areas around it. Until the late 1960s, the mangroves along the river’s bank acted as natural flood barriers. The gradual removal of these mangroves to make way for real estate development has not only increased the risk of flooding but also depleted the ground’s ability to absorb rainwater. Theoretically, the Mithi river could be created as a major source of freshwater stock in a city, which is increasingly dependent on water tankers that are causing groundwater levels to deplete rapidly. Nearly 97 per cent of the potable water in Mumbai comes from outside the city.

River Rejuvenation Programme

Post the infamous Mumbai floods in 2005, the river’s middle width was increased to 25 meters. Considerable propaganda accompanied the widening initiative, predominantly around the claim that it has not flooded since 2006 and that this is ‘a good sign of progress’. Estimated to cost Rs 1,800 crore, the rejuvenation programme has been politicised beyond being a mere clean-up undertaking. Massive funds have been repeatedly allotted by the BMC and MMRDA to clean, desilt and maintain the river. The civic body has also floated tenders for the phase 1 of the 4-phase Mithi River Water Quality Improvement Programme.

Current situation

The deadlines for the rejuvenation programme are usually missed. The authorities have maintained that the river will be rejuvenated by 2020. The right use of technology, coupled with the political and administrative can certainly help achieve some of the targets, but this would still not solve the crux of the problem which makes the Mithi river’s ‘restoration’ far more complex.

Fortress of slums

The river flows through various slum clusters including Asia’s largest one – Dharavi. Almost 70 per cent of the river banks are occupied by lakhs of slum units from where domestic waste and even defecation waste flows into the river. Moreover, several small-scale industries in these slum clusters pollute the river. The toxic chemical waste released by industries, along with the innumerable truckloads of debris being unloaded into the river, need to be severely dealt with.

In order to do that, a beginning needs to be made by rehabilitating the slum dwellers around the river but in a place which is close to their source of livelihoods but away from the river. Unless they stop pouring waste into the river on a daily basis, the possibility of the river getting cleaned up is remote. The authorities need to create a zero-tolerance zone along both sides of the river.

Obviously, slum dwellers, along with the agencies that control them and the industries they work in, represent a powerful vote bank. This can explain why the most important steps towards cleaning up the river — that of relocating slum dwellers and shutting down the polluting industries — represent an almost insurmountable challenge. It is not an impossible task — but like everything else in the country today, it can only happen with a concerted political will.

How wetlands affect real estate

Real estate is a major economic driver for any city, particularly a land-starved one like Mumbai. The existence of major workplace hubs in a given location not only attract more office buildings but also drives residential demand in and around these hubs. However, real estate demand and values in a location are also influenced by a number of qualitative factors pertaining to its overall socio-economic profile as well as the immediate natural environment.

They are affected by the availability of green zones and water bodies such as the seashore, lakes and rivers. However, these sentiments only hold true if the water body is visually appealing, unpolluted and well-contained by safeguarding infrastructure. If adequate water quality and safety exist, property prices can go up by 12-15 per cent. However, if the wetland in question is polluted and has proved to be unsafe due to flooding, the whole equation is turned on its head. Natural disasters like flooding may be originally inherent or caused by human intervention such as over-development. However, pollution is always the result of irresponsible human activity.

Areas that have witnessed flooding in the past and continue to present health risks due to pollution are prone to shedding their property values by anything between 5-12 per cent.

Success Story - The River Besos, Spain

River rejuvenation is a real possibility and there are initiatives to learn from. The Besos in Barcelona’s metropolitan region is a classic example of an urban river that can be a role model for cities looking to regenerate their rivers. Ironically, the Besos was known as the most contaminated river in Europe until the 1970s. However, from the mid-1990s onward, it has been in the process of being cleaned up via innovative techniques.

The authorities used bio-remediation techniques that cleansed the soil and pollutants discharged by industrial and residential units along the river — which are also the prime source of pollution in the Mithi river.

The Mithi river rejuvenation programme can take its learning from the Besos project. Closer home, the Sabarmati river program is also a good example of determined political will turning the tide in favour of progress.

Mumbai was literally reclaimed from the sea, and the struggle of ‘progress’ against nature has been raging ever since. It is unfortunate that the city’s war against water has been successful to such a terminal extent. Only time will tell if there’s still hope for the Mithi river, or if the sweetness has left it forever.

The author is a real estate expert