Mahul is “critically” polluted, according to India’s central pollution control board. A survey by the city’s KEM hospital found that 67.1% of the neighbourhood’s residents complained of breathlessness more than three times a month, 86.6% complained of eye irritations and 84.5% had experienced feeling a choking sensation.
Then there is the poor quality of the water. “At times, the water has a layer of oil on it – several residents have suffered stomach infections,” says Subhash Jadhav, a 52-year-old journalist who developed a skin complaint after being moved to Mahul. “I’ve complained to the BMC on several occasions, but they say they don’t have enough manpower.”
Rishi Agarwal, a Mumbai-based urban planner, believes that the city’s development is crushing its poorest citizens. “It’s part of the larger gentrification, which is rapidly progressing in Mumbai,” he says. “In the past two decades, the government’s intention has been to push the most underprivileged citizens to the outskirts in order to create housing near the centre for more affluent residents. The displaced have been dumped in rehabilitation centres. These places are devoid of basic amenities like ventilation, waste management, and transport links. Mahul, particularly, is absolute hell.” Following a high court order last year, the BMC says it plans to build a health centre and a school, and ensure a contamination-free water supply. Urban planner Agarwal is unimpressed. “The government doesn’t lack resources to build better alternative accommodation,” he says, “it’s just short on compassion for the poor.”
“There are no schools, hospitals, medical shops or means of livelihood here,” says Anita Dhole, a 40-year-old who was relocated to Mahul after her home was demolished when authorities cleared a secure zone around the city’s colonial-era Tansa water pipeline 12 months ago. “But there are smoke-belching chimneys – and a crematorium. It’s the government’s way of telling us that they’ve sent us here to die.”
The city’s civic authority, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), started placing people in Mahul six years ago after the high court called for 10 metres to be cleared either side of the pipeline for health and security reasons. When the BMC started clearing illegal housing, the displaced residents quickly returned to rebuild.
Last September the authorities came up with a new plan: a $45m, 24-mile cycling and jogging track along the length of the Tansa, which runs in two sections: from Mulund in the north-east to Dharavi in the centre, and Ghatkopar in the east to Sion in the south.
The Green Wheels Along Blue Lines cycle and running track would serve a dual purpose: keep the area clear of illegal shacks by opening the space around the pipeline to the public, and provide an environmentally friendly and healthy route across the chaotic and crowded city. Work is due to start in April and be completed in two years. To date 16,000 homes have been cleared along the pipeline, with a further 6,000 slated for demolition.
Sushila Yadav fears any changes that do come would be too late. She lost her 11-year-old son, Aman, three years after they were moved to Mahul. What started as breathlessness swiftly spiralled into a lung disorder. Now her 20-year-old daughter Komal has similar symptoms. “Before we moved to Mahul, my husband, our four children and I lived in a 50 sq ft shack next to a sewer,” she says. “It was difficult, but at least all of us were alive. Given a chance, I’d leave Mahul and take my children back on the street.”
No comments:
Post a Comment