How will Mumbai be like in 2030?

The administration in Maharashtra will work towards ensuring that any infrastructure development that happens in the city will not be at the cost of our environment This is the commitment that came from Manisha PatankarMhaiskar principal secretary Department of Environment and Climate Change in the state government at the midday For Mumbai roundtable that was held on April 6This new campaign reinforces middayrsquos effort to bring about change in the city for the better through ideas exchange and debatesThe first online panel discussion mdash Mumbai in 2030 World Class City or Ad Hoc Development Victim mdash saw state representatives and key conservation voices come together to share their thoughts on the ongoing Mumbai Metro and Coastal Road constructionThe panellists included Mhaiskar RA Rajeev metropolitan commissioner MMRDA Alan Abraham architect and cofounder of Bombay Greenway documentary photographer Chirodeep Chaudhuri Stalin Dayanand conservationist and director of environmental NGO Vanashakti Dhaval Madhukar Shah founding director of Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizenrsquos Association and midday journalist and conservationist Ranjeet JadhavldquoThere is this notion that destruction of nature has to happen for development mdash that attitude has to change The government has to have a desire to spend a little more We feel that money is difficult to spend but environment is cheaper to destroyrdquo shared Dayanand while discussing how Mumbairsquos authorities need to focus on ldquosustainable developmentrdquoAdmitting that ldquoinfra and environment cannot be in adversarial rolesrdquo Mhaiskar said ldquoI am more convinced now that our department would need to bring these two sides administration and citizens together to ensure that development happens but in sync with the environment We need to find a balancerdquoEdited excerpts from the interviewAlan Abraham architect and cofounder of Bombay Greenwaymidday to Abraham In the past Bombay Greenway has suggested several tweaks to the Coastal Road project solutions that you say are feasible What is your biggest grouse with the current planAbraham There are a couple of them actually The basic concept is defeating While the city does require its roads it requires roads where the city is And the city is on land and not in the sea Putting a road out in the sea is actually silly This is the same with the MSRDCrsquos Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited Versova Bandra Sea Link Project VBSLP They are building a 98 km road in the sea and to connect that road which is 1 km out in the sea they are building another 86 km of connector roads So you are building twice as much The same number of roads and the same size of roads could have benefited the city withinAlso if you going about reclaiming so much it is going to be environmentally damaging If you push the water it is going to come back Today if you go to the Bandra Worli Sea Link the entire promenade is locked up This is what we are going to get in the future mdash A city full of locked up sea fronts with minuscule promenades If we are going to go through this project it can be done in a much better way We are seeing a future disaster What we at Bombay Greenway are doing through our small interventions is saying that lets put the road towards the land where it is going to be more useful and the same space which is being reclaimed can be used for coastal and tidal resilience to protect the city from surges tsunami and floods A few tweaks can make a huge differenceChirodeep Chaudhuri documentary photographermidday to Chaudhuri Just two weeks ago on Instagram you reached out to followers asking if they knew friends from whose homes one could view sections of the Coastal Road Project that is underway as yoursquod like to take pictures from there What are you hoping to documentChaudhuri In the last 25 years of being an active journalist photographer and observer of the city what occupies my mind is not just how much of the city is changing but how much of it we have forgottenIn 1999 I was commissioned by Sharada Dwivedi to document the Muslim neighbourhoods of Bombay That book never happened but I remember starting to photograph Mohammed Ali Road and literally seeing the JJ Flyover bridge come up Those photos are now historic because the younger generation can hardly remember what this road was What I would like to see is a more concerted and not adhoc effort in documenting this city There was a project called the Farm Security Administration in the 1930s in the US and the government of that time had deployed a huge battery of photographers to go out and document the impact of how new technology and Depression was impacting farming This is what I would like to see here as well At present there are so many projects happening Do we have a photographic record of these changesThe DahisarAndheri East Metro Line 7 is one of the two Metro lines expected to be ready later this year PicSatej ShindeThe Haji Ali Coastal Road Project documentation really came out of that Itrsquos still in its formative stage And while one can do this with the rest of the city I think Haji Ali gave me one real punch in the face It bothered me the most mdash just to see an iconic view of the city disappearRA Rajeev metropolitan commissioner MMRDAmidday to Rajeev The infra push many feel is skewed towards the rich and the privileged One of the foremost complaints is why arenrsquot we doing enough to make the city more walkable and pedestrianfriendlyRajeev We are going through a very interesting phase in the cityrsquos transformation I can relate it with the days when all the seven islands were being reclaimed by the British All the many development projects in the city are falling into a jigsaw puzzle and the picture that will emerge in 2030 mdash I assure you mdash will not be an adhoc victimisation of Mumbai We will definitely have a worldclass liveable city Any such largescale transformation and that too in Mumbai where we perform openheart surgeries without giving it anaesthesia takes timeThe first Metro line came up after 10 years but that wonrsquot happen with the other metro lines or the transharbour link Despite uncertainties like COVID19 we have not overstepped as far as time or budget is concerned In fact two metro lines will be inaugurated this yearWith regards to pedestrianisation there are plans to open the Western and Eastern highways for pedestrian movement We have also started developing cycle tracks in BKC At present in BKC at least 10000 people are using cycles In addition to that at three Metro stations we have introduced public sharing cycles We will continue developing more tracks I keep telling cyclists go on the roads and reclaim your spaceWhat I am doing now is not just for the rich I am also working for our public Mumbai all said and done is a public transport city Around 80 lakh people travel by locals in crushed density The metro lines will create an additional capacity of 12 crore This will definitely create ease of commute And with all the private car owners using the coastal road the city will open up and be much better soonDhaval Madhukar Shah founding director Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizenrsquos Associationmidday to Dayanand Yoursquove been one of the forces behind the Save Aarey campaign your relentless efforts finally met with success when the Metro car shed shifted out of Aarey Colony last year Do you feel that citizensrsquo movements like this one can be real gamechangers in the futureDayanand Yes that was a historic battle Citizens from all walks of life stood shoulder to shoulder and said ldquoThese are our forests and you cannot touch themrdquo There is also a message for the government here These conflicts can be easily avoided in the future What is happening today is that projects are being conceived by civil engineers I had even asked the CMOrsquos office who was the scientist advising them on their projects And the reply was that ldquothere is no such postrdquo So obviously you are going to have a conflict situation later on Look at what is happening with the Coastal Road No Mumbaikar was informed how the project was going to destroy coral coloniesPeoplersquos movements make all the difference Save Aarey for instance became a worldwide issue Initially we were branded as a group of ldquoEnglishspeaking activistsrdquo But when the trees were being cut the tribals were the first ones to go and stop it Getting criminal charges slapped against citizens resulted in nothingMr Rajeev has shown a nice plan for Mumbai but there are so many issues that still need to be addressed We feel that this government is more sensitive towards conservation and so we are hopeful that some part of Mumbairsquos natural heritage will be savedmidday to Shah Speaking of citizensrsquo movements residents in Andheri West managed to get a Supreme Court stay on the bridge connecting Yari Road and Lokhandwala because of the destruction it has been causing mangroves Activism of this nature receives its fair share of criticism What do you have to say to thatShah We believe in development that coexists with nature Recently there was talk about the beautification of the Lokhandwala lake We didnrsquot want it to suffer the fate of Bandra talao which has now become a concrete jungle Thatrsquos why we wrote to the authorities concerned So yes public has to be constantly engaged in how the city evolvesCurrently there is no timebased restriction on any of the projects taking place across the city A lot of projects have been delayed inordinately and the only people suffering are the taxpayers There is zero accountability We need boards across the city sharing details of those carrying out these projects so that citizens are informed as to who is in charge of the work and by when they will be completedManisha PatankarMhaiskar principal secretary Department of Environment and Climate Changemidday to Mhaiskar In 2019 a study published by Nature Communications claimed that Mumbai especially the south was at the risk of being submerged by 2050 The article cautioned that coastal communities worldwide must prepare themselves for difficult times Has the government considered this impending threat to MumbaiMhaiskar The government has been making a conscious effort to improve the cityrsquos green cover Our department has been studying a few of the developments related to Aarey and I think it is important to mention that in the last 60 years Aarey lost about 40 per cent of its green cover to various deforestation projects But now what has happened is that the remaining forest which is about 800 acres is being protected under the Forest Act Protecting one Aarey though is not sufficient The city will need more urban forests and vertical greens We have all been discussing climate change and it is real At present Mumbai is experiencing a heatwave The city will have to become more carbon resilient to tackle this As the city moves towards green shared mobility with the development of the Coastal Road and Metro and also tackles its solid and liquid waste a significant amount of these emissions will come down We are also looking at creating an emerald necklace mangroves wetlands along the cityrsquos coastline which will make the city more floodproof and climateresilient Apart from this the department is also working on a whole new concept of protecting its heritage trees But it is still a policy which is in progressI would say that if things go as planned and more efforts are made Mumbai will be a sustainable green and liveable city which is also constantly thinking about carbon neutralityRanjeet Jadhav midday journalist and conservationistmidday to Jadhav One of the things we donrsquot speak of as much is how infra projects are indirectly increasing mananimal conflict because green spaces are now shrinking by the dozen Do you think Mumbairsquos wildlife is in grave danger and why soJadhav Since I cover wildlife and environment I have had a chance to interact with researchers at Sanjay Gandhi National Park This park which is spread across 104 sqkm has the highest density of leopard anywhere in the world This is important in terms of conservation Yes we need our Metros and roads but some of these linear infra projects are posing a huge threat to the wildlife One can talk about roads on the periphery of SGNP and Aarey Research shows that between 2008 and 2021 more than 25 leopards have died while crossing highways Clearly no proper mitigations measures have been undertaken Infra agencies like MMRDA MSRDC and NHAI National Highways Authority of India need to talk with forest officials We need underpasses and overpasses for the safe passage of animalsmidday Are we going to reclaim more land to create new real estateRajeev The simple answer to that is no So far as government policy is concerned no land is being reclaimed for real estateMhaiskar I would second Mr Rajeev When the Coastal Road came to the MCZMA Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority for CRZ clearance what worked in the projectrsquos favour was the larger public interest aspect So I think unless there is significant public interest in the project there wonrsquot be any more reclamationDayanand I slightly disagree with Mr Rajeev and Manisha marsquoam The MMRDA has already conducted surveys for construction on salt pan lands these are our natural flood plains that prevent the city from flooding If Mr Rajeev is committing not to touch these lands it is good newsRajeev He Stalin is wrong in saying that MMRDA is deciding on the salt pans The surveys are being done on the suggestion of the Government of India and itrsquos eventually for them to decide Nothing is in the hand of MMRDA But if the salt pans are under CRZ I nothing will happen to them Manisha is the protector of itWhere to watchCatch the discussion Mumbai in 2030 World Class City or Adhoc Development Victim on middayrsquos YouTube Channel youtubecommiddayindia