Will Mumbai share Atlantis’s fate?

If city cannot check the destruction of mangroves, it will fall prey to global warming

Imagine waking up to huge tidal waves lashing your building, like you were living in the midst of the sea. Today, such a situation may seem a hyperbole, but given the massive mangrove hacking on the cards, it could become a reality within two decades. What is most surprising is the blinkered attitude of the state and civic administration — the latest in the string of attacks on the city's lungs being the decision to reclaim salt pan lands at Kanjurmarg for the purpose of dumping garbage. And this comes despite many a serious warning and indications of future disasters, said city activists.

However, if the pace of global warming and its effects, like the 26/7 deluge that took the city unawares two years ago, are to be halted, then the mangroves on the city's shores need protection rather and should not be torn down, said activists.

Failing this, the city may soon find itself surrounded by the sea.

Perhaps all the monuments, including Gateway of India, will be submerged and cities like Lonawala and Igatpuri will attain the status of coastal cities.

"Global warming is a man-made problem that has turned into a monster, what with rampant tree-cutting and mangrove destruction along Mumbai's coast. These events, when put together, result in the formation of a carbon dioxide and methane layer on the city's surface, trapping heat and raising its temperature," said Debi Goenka of the Bombay Environmental Action Group.

"Since Mumbai is a coastal city and is mostly carved from reclaimed land, it is highly vulnerable to climate changes. The city's west coast needs immediate attention so as to prevent any future disasters due to erosion and the ever-rising sea levels," he added.

Sounding off an alarm, Goenka also mentioned that it was high time policy makers took global warming seriously and made new developmental plans to counter its effects.

Stating that the increase in temperature and sea levels and the frequency of extreme swings in climate condition posed a high risk for a big city like Mumbai, he said, "Faulty planning and lack of foresight shown by bureaucrats and politicians is bound to ruin Mumbai. The blunder will be realised only when Mumbai is fully or partly submerged due to global warming."

According to a scientific study conducted by the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the most authoritative climate change study ever produced, concrete action must be taken to check soaring global temperature and rising sea levels. Failing which, many coastal cities including Mumbai will be in serious trouble.

Rishi Aggarwaal, general secretary of the Mumbai chapter of Mangroves Society of India said, "It's high time we checked carbon emissions which fuel global warming. There is also an urgent need to save the existing mangroves surrounding Mumbai."

He added that despite many serious warnings, the state government and civic administration were not serious about the issue. "The BMC's decision to reclaim salt pan land at Kanjurmarg to make a garbage dump is clear evidence of how much bureaucrats care for the city's future."

Stating that the civic administration had got court approval to create the landfill by misleading it — the court was told that the 142 hectares of land was not under CRZ, Aggarwaal said, "The civic administration seems to be determined to eliminate all the mangrove forests and wetlands in the city. The race to grab all possible land to construct buildings is bound to get the city into serious trouble. If studies conducted worldwide are to be believed, Mumbaikars can be sure that the city will be fully or partly submerged in the next two decades if rampant mangrove destruction and deforestation are not checked immediately."