Development Plan silent on disaster-prone areas: Activists and residents

For nearly 45 lakh Mumbaikars residing on the stretch between Chembur and Ghatkopar – for whom heavy pollution has become a part of daily life for past two decades – the city's development blueprint was the only hope to ensure a safer environment for their next generation. But the residents say, that, too, has failed them.

Their fears are not unfounded. The areas, which come under M-east and M-west civic wards, are among most hazardous zones in the city, primarily because they are home to several small-scale chemical industries, a dumping ground, and a bio-medical waste management facility at Govandi. Then there is RCF and two oil refineries at Mahul, a power station, and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, which together make the area, what locals call a 'ticking time bomb'.

That aside, these neighbourhoods have seen a humongous rise in population in the last five years, with a slum proliferation in areas like Anushakti Nagar and Cheetah camp. However, the draft Development Plan (DP) has failed to identify the wards as high risk/danger zones, despite residents' pleas to the authorities.

When the BMC was holding ward-level DP consultation workshops, many citizens had suggested that the two wards be marked as 'danger/high risk' zones in the land-use maps and a proper risk analysis of the entire stretch be carried out in consultation with competent authorities.

HK Clubwalla, an environmentalist and a Chembur resident, says, "Such is the situation that any disaster such as an explosion, gas leak, radiation exposure or even a fire and earthquake, will not only damage the city's eastern front, but will also spread downwards, via the numerous oil tank farms in Sewri to the dock area, which dotted with fully-laden ships and warehouses."

Clubwalla says the DP is silent on escape routes for locals in the eventuality of a disaster. "I had suggested that to the authorities, but the DP has not incorporated any of our suggestion. I only hope our younger generation are able to live in safer environments. It starts with the plan."

In 2000, Clubwalla along with other locals had opposed setting up of an LNG gas storage and re-gassification plant. Over the years, he has written to many civic and state authorities highlighting the issue, without much success.

Another Chembur-based activist Raj Kumar Sharma said, "FSI in the area is periodically increased. The DP should have contained the FSI in the area as it is already crammed. But going by the transit-oriented development in DP, an FSI increase has been proposed near Mankhurd, Chembur and other railway stations."

Residents say in the absence of high risk/hazardous tags, and with revised FSI, the areas will attract new projects and scores of unsuspecting homeseekers. In such a situation, the scale of damage in case of a disaster will be unimaginable.

An expert from the Urban Design Research Institute said, "It looks like a deliberate attempt as marking these areas as 'high risk zones' in the land-use maps would have spelt doom for the builder lobby."

Vidyadhar Phatak, urban planning consultant, said the civic body has a separate disaster management plan to tackle the issue. "Marking the areas as high risk zones can be done, but I'm not sure how far it will help them. Even stopping development in the area won't help, as it will only lead to slum proliferation."