Environmental reports from the nineties, as well as activists, have warned that the construction being carried out on the western side of the Mahim causeway, in the Mahim creek, will not only adversely affect the city’s entire coast, the Mithi river but also lead to water-logging in Mumbai.
Residents from Shivaji Park and Vile Parle lamented on Sunday that water levels along the coast had risen leading to flooding in their lanes and compounds along the coast on the weekend.
The construction work, which started a few weeks ago, is being undertaken by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). Sources reveal that the authorities are blasting rock in order to increase the depth of Mahim creek, one of the most polluted waterbodies in Asia.
Speaking to dna, MMRDA’s chief engineer SB Tamsekar confirmed, “We were blasting some loose rocks to deepen the river.”
Several reports by civic authorities in the past have warned that any form of construction in this area is detrimental to the fragile ecosystem of the Mithi river and the entire city’s coast.
Sources reveal that in 1995 civic authorities had constructed two parallel walls and filled stones between them in the same location, by the marine outfalls in Bandra. This move was opposed by the fishermen in the area as it aggravated the silt, obstructed tides in the estuary and Mahim creek, and, subsequently, polluted the waterbody.
“That year, the Mithi, which gets sewage water from Borivli to Parel and Santa Cruz to Ghatkopar, contributed to the flooding because of this construction as it obstructed the tides. This is what the 1999 Bombay Natural History Society study by Dr Sanjay Deshmukh also indicated. After protests, these walls were dismantled in April 2000,” an activist said.
In addition, the saline water, which usually enters Mahim creek, was impeded due to change of tides, killing several species of mangroves, according to the Mangrove Committee report in the nineties. dilnaz.boga@dnaindia.net
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