The hard look: Reclamation a part of culture and history in Mumbai

There is a pressing need for Mumbai to expand and to vastly improve its quality of life for it to be comparable to not just metropolises abroad,but even other Indian metros. With the city locked from one side by the sea,urban planners and state authorities have time and again resorted to land reclamation to accommodate the needs of a burgeoning population.

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Even now,authorities advocate responsible reclamation not just to create land for infrastructure projects but also to bring value to the city. However,all proposals involving reclamation are stuck,not just due to regulatory hurdles,but also due to widespread opposition by environmentalists and scientists. Mumbai’s fishermen,known to be the earliest inhabitants of the island city,also fiercely oppose reclamation,saying it will cripple their livelihood.

Politically too,it’s a hot potato although the concept itself is not new to Mumbai,originally an archipelago of seven islands — Apollo Bunder,Malabar,Cumbala,Mazgaon,Worli,Mahim,and Parel-Dharavi-Sion — which were brought together by reclaiming land.

But the counter-argument is shriller,more so because of illegal activities that have consumed mangroves and damaged natural resources.

ADVERSE IMPACT OF RECLAMATION

True,reclaiming land alters the coastline and leads to a change in the sea level and tidal currents,resulting in wearing away of beaches or dune sediments. An example is the erosion of the Dadar Chowpatty due to reclamation between the Mahim Bay and Bandra Land’s End for the approach road to the Bandra-Worli sea link. Ten years ago,the Dadar Chowpatty had a spacious 50-metre coastline for people to enjoy splashy waves,horseback rides and fun fairs. It has now shrunk to just a few metres.

Hrishikesh Samant,head of geology department at St. Xaviers’ College and a former member of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA),says,“The waves would earlier hit Bandra land’s end and refract to the place that is now Bandra reclamation. Previously,there was space where they could dissipate energy. Then suddenly due to reclamation,the waves would turn further south. Part of it would rush up the Mithi River and part of it would push and wash away sand at Dadar Chowpatty.”

Reclamation depletes vegetation cover and increases concretisation,a major cause of the increasing water-logging the city faces every monsoon. Excessive concretisation reduces the infiltration of rainwater into the earth. Besides,the flushing capacity of creeks and estuaries also decreases as creeks grow narrower and shallower due to silt,increasing chances of inundation.

For instance,Mithi River was abused over the years not only by slums and toxic waste,but also by incessant reclamation. The river,which now has a poor holding and flushing capacity,was one of the prime reasons for the 2005 deluge.

According to a report by the Observer Research Foundation,the entire boundary wall of the Mumbai airport was situated on the periphery of a low-lying reclaimed pond area,which was originally a portion of the water-logged wetland system of the Mithi estuary. This led to loss of natural drainage and aggravated flooding in the area. “Between 1976 and 2004,airport works forced the river to deviate unnaturally,making it bend at 90 degree angles four times in rapid succession,thus rearranging its erstwhile linear flow. The river was made to pass through a channelised culvert beneath the runway,and bound with walls and embankments on both sides,” says the report released in 2011. “There is no doubt that the airport expansion has adversely affected the course of the Mithi River,leading to its rapid environmental degradation and reducing its ability to effectively drain this densely populated low-lying region,” the report added.

Reclaiming land also impacts the growth of mangroves,which again act as sponges in the city. In Mumbai,reclamation is said to have affected the biodiversity among mangroves. While earlier there were 13-15 mangrove species found,now there is prominently just one kind — the Avicennia marina. “…If a land has been degraded,only sturdy species will establish themselves and those that take time to establish will not grow. In short,if there is no proper habitat,succession will not happen,” said Dr Goldin Quadros,a senior scientist at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History.

Likewise,the aquatic life also suffers and could hit the livelihood of communities like the fishermen as reclamation threatens breeding grounds for fish.

Those against reclamation also fear that the reclaimed land will always be prone to real estate development,although state authorities have ruled out any commercial exploitation.

A HISTORY OF RECLAMATION IN MUMBAI

As per an ongoing study conducted by the Mumbai University’s geography department for the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit (MTSU),a state government think-tank,the British had reclaimed about 35 sq km from the 1700s till independence. This was done mainly for joining the seven islands. Post-independence,reclamation was three times higher,undertaken by state government and illegally by private parties. As per the study,the built-up area of Mumbai increased to 385.67 sq km in 2011 from 195.01 sq km in 1970. Simultaneously,the area of the mudflats dwindled to 39.19 sq km in 2011 from 107.2 sq km in 1970. Despite the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) prohibiting reclamation now,the study found that as much as 54.73 sq km of land in Mumbai was in the process of reclamation as observed in 2011 on satellite images.

The earliest reclamation was before 1700 at Umarkhadi,the creek separating the erstwhile Bombay from Mazgaon. According to a report of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR),the last story in which Mazgaon appears as a separate island was during its occupation by the Sidi of Janjira in 1690. This was followed by the reclamation of about 400 acres at the Hornby Vellard near Cumbala Hill in 1784. Twelve years later,the Colaba and Fort area were linked. Subsequently,the Colaba causeway was completed. Between 1860 and 1865,the first Backbay reclamation was undertaken to join the tip of Malabar Hill to Colaba. Then came the reclamation for dockyards. Between 1914 and 1918,22 acres were reclaimed to create Ballard Estate. This period also saw the creation of Marine Drive and reclaimed land on which now stand the Art Deco buildings near Oval Maidan. Post-independence saw reclamation at Kalanagar,Bandra,in south Mumbai to create Nariman Point,Lokhandwala,Bandra Kurla Complex and so on.

“In early days,land was reclaimed by creating bunds. Old city reclamation was highly influenced by the European and British ways. In suburban areas,reclamation did not happen like in the old city. Most of the reclamation in suburbs was not by constructing walls,but by dumping material excavated from hills,” Samant says.

In 1991,the MoEF published a notification declaring coastal stretches as Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ),which put restrictions on development near the coastline and gradually put a stop to all reclamation activity.

THE CRZ LAW AND MUMBAI’S DEVELOPMENT

Although the CRZ notification was published in 1991,there was much confusion over its intricacies and hence there was still some development happening near the coast in that decade. However,once the rules set in,Mumbai,which has been grappling with a humongous population and a severe land crunch,was unable to expand from its coast. Reclamation came to a full stop.

As per the rules,no new construction is permitted in CRZ-I,between the high-tide and low-tide lines or in areas with mangroves,sand dunes and so on. In CRZ-II,which means the area developed up to or close to the shoreline,no new construction is allowed on the seaward side with buildings permitted only on the landward side. Although norms permit reconstruction of existing authorised buildings in this zone,they mandate that the redevelopment should be done using existing floor space index without any change in land use. This has made the redevelopment of several hundred very old buildings financially unfeasible.

Acknowledging the unique situation of Mumbai,the MoEF in 2011 permitted construction of roads and public infrastructure in CRZ areas on stilts.

Even then,infrastructure development has had several hiccups. A vital mass transit project such as the Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd Metro has been stalled for nearly two years as the land originally earmarked for car depots at Charkop and Mankhurd fall under CRZ. MMRDA,the implementing agency,is struggling to get alternative land from the state government. If the project has to go ahead with the car depot at the originally identified site,MMRDA will have to abide by MoEF’s conditions and build the depot on stilts,substantially increasing the cost. More so,the MoEF has prohibited any washing or maintenance activity at the site,which will make it impossible to service the rakes at the car depot. Likewise,getting an MoEF clearance had also delayed projects such as the Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle monorail and the Eastern Freeway.

The latest casualty is the plan for a coastal freeway via land reclamation. The state government is waiting for the MoEF to give an in-principal approval so that it can go ahead with the planning. The MCZMA had last month written to the MoEF to allow reclamation for the coastal road project as a special case,considering Mumbai’s unique situation.

Similarly,a concept plan for the Mumbai metropolitan region up to 2052,drafted by Singaporean consultant Surbana International,also calls for large-scale reclamation. It proposes new ports and airports,development of townships,waterfront rejuvenation and environment restoration,among other features. However,it also calls for improvement to the development control parameters and rethinking of CRZ norms within key areas of the Mumbai metropolitan region. It also advocates the expansion of the central business district in the main city area by making available eastern waterfront land and by reclamation of the shallow waters near the outlet of Thane creek.

While the concept plan has not yet been adopted due to bureaucratic hurdles,there is also significant resistance to it as the plan recommends reclamation.

RECLAMATION FOR A COASTAL FREEWAY

A project on the cards that proposes to improve intra-city transport via reclamation is the coastal freeway,a pet project of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. The 35.6-km freeway proposes to create a ring road around Mumbai together with the Eastern freeway,by reclaiming nearly 160 hectares of land. About 9.8 km of the road is proposed to be built by reclamation in the sea and up to 8 kilometres by reclamation in the mangroves.

Authorities promoting the freeway argue the project will do more good than harm.

Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte said,“Instead of saying no-no to reclamation,we can work out mitigation measures. We have assured MoEF that the reclamation would be only for the development of the road and we won’t open it to real estate.”

The coastal road seeks to create large patches of open green space,which is shrinking in Mumbai. The state government has promised to protect it by creating beautiful marinas and promenades,while providing pedestrians direct access to these green patches for walking and cycling. The road will facilitate high-speed travel by taking away traffic from internal roads,thereby decongesting the city and cutting travel time.

In 2011,a joint technical committee under the chairmanship of the then municipal commissioner,Subodh Kumar,had drafted a report on the feasibility of this project. The committee had considered the option of creating a coastal road through sea links,an idea being pushed by the NCP-controlled MSRDC. However,it found the average cost of sea links would be Rs 600 crore per km,while that of reclamation would be Rs 100 crore per km. Besides,the committee concluded reclamation would be more feasible keeping in mind disaster mitigation measures. It said sea links would be obtrusions to the sea view and would require long connectors at intermediate and end points.

The committee had also consulted the National Institute of Oceanography,which looked at whether the proposed reclamation could cause any adverse effects on the tides or erosion of the coastline. The plan proposes the average width of reclamation to be 100 metres,which effectively means moving the coastline offshore by a distance of about 100 metres with shore protection measures such as tetrapods,retaining walls and so on.

“…the team did not expect any change in the present behaviour of tides due to moving of the coastline perpendicular to the present coastline by a distance of 100 metres,” the report said.

SCIENTIFIC RECLAMATION: INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLES

Many believe that the past reclamation projects,especially those undertaken post-independence,were not done in a scientific manner and were implemented without the study of geology or much care for ecology. Ideally,the way forward,they say,is that instead of completely discarding the option of reclamation,authorities should assess ecological loss as against economic gains and the socio-cultural impact on various communities. There should be a detailed study of the natural coastal features and processes in Mumbai before either endorsing or shying away from reclamation. “Reclamation has been part of culture,nature,history,geography and our local practices. There should not be any polarised stands on this. Instead,there should be debate on when to reclaim,how to reclaim and what purpose to reclaim for,” said Sulakshana Mahajan,an urban planner with the MTSU.

For instance,when China was probing the possibility of reclamation,it studied parameters such as hydrological impact,environment carrying capacity,ecological impact,impact on marine resources and economic impact,assigning values to every category depending on the feasibility. Wherever the total number of points for all these categories put together was below 50,the government would flatly refuse the reclamation proposal.

Other cities of the world have also resorted to extensive reclamation not only for infrastructure projects,but also for real estate development.

As Singapore’s Surbana International had pointed out in the presentation of the concept plan it had drafted,other countries have heavily indulged in reclamation – Netherlands (7,000 sq km),South Korea (1,550 sq km),Hong Kong (86 sq km),Tokyo (249 sq km) and Singapore (135 sq km).

In 2011,Ronald Waterman,a Holland-based expert,had visited Mumbai and given a presentation to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan about the Netherlands’ experience with reclamation and possibilities of scientific reclamation in Mumbai.

“A lot of Mumbai-based experts on the subject and environmentalists had attended the presentation and at that time were in agreement that reclamation was possible,if done scientifically,” Mahajan said.

However,critics say that the environmental and social parameters in other countries are vastly different from Mumbai,with the main difference being the enormous population here.

manasi.phadke@expressindia.com