WP4 Rough Draft: The Infamous Coastal Road of Mumbai
Mumbai, the financial capital of India and its most populous city, was merely seven islands a century ago. During the British rule, this city became a bustling port, attracting people from regions unknown, giving it the title of “City of Dreams” (Bambai- A City of Dreams). To keep up with this influx, the city took several steps in terms of expansions, reclaiming acres of land in the Arabian sea to facilitate its growing population. In fact, a few years ago, the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation), the richest municipal corporation in Asia, proposed an intensive, $1.6 Billion “Coastal Road” project, that connected the southernmost residential regions to northern industrialized zones. (Mirror Now Bureau). However, this endeavor was reciprocated with severe backlash from environmentalists on grounds of climate change. Some may say that this mega-project will bring in MNC Investments, and uplift the grandeur of the city, while the opposing section deem it as an unjust action towards the degradation of our climate superior. Moreover, I believe a change in Mumbaikar’s (citizens of Mumbai) thought processes through intervention by Municipal Officials will help push efforts in the right direction.
Well, if you’re unaware, Mumbai is a highly dense city, with meandering streets creating blocked roads everywhere. The Coastal Road project was initiated in 2016, with the motive of easing the congestion on streets, and improving connectivity between distant regions of the metropolitan. It stretches over 15 miles through the ocean, with several underground tunnels through the mainland to provide outlets to this freeway. In the process, several existent roads were expected to receive a makeup, that created havoc on the already burdened roadway network of Mumbai. Underground tunnels through the picturesque Marine drive drove tourists away, but this did not seem to hinder the big plans BMC had in mind. In fact, the construction of this road caused destruction of several parks in the SOBO vicinity, degrading the quality of life that was at an all-time low!
If this does not sound astonishing itself, the numbers surely will. The Coastal Road occupied 821,386 sqm on the seaside and 987,172 sqm on the landside. It is estimated that around 400,000 cubic metres of soil will be reclaimed, along with 200,000 cubic metres of aggregates (Mumbai Coastal Road Project). The only source for such quantities is through reclamation and dumping it straight into the Arabian Sea. This has dire environmental consequences. Primarily, the on surge of large tidal waves, which could cause severe coastal damage to properties along the 103 mile Mumbai coast. To add to that, this increases the likely hoods of intensive flooding. The city itself has had a terrible reputation of floods (such as in 2005 & 2007), the existence of this project simply increases the chances of such jeopardies. In fact, the damage that these floods may cause to the streets of Bollywood far succeed the benefits of the Coastal Road. Further, this roadway is Mumbai’s first 5 lane structure, providing ample speeding grounds from car fanatics, creating a constant sense of fear in this unconventional roadway. Beyond that, it adversely affects the mangroves and marine life population of the city. Sanjay Baikar, President of the Vanchit Machchimar Haji Ali Sahakari Sanghathan, blatantly states, “Our livelihoods are gone, our way of life will soon be over” (The Wire). Mumbai was initially a city of the fishermen, and stealing the native’s sole livelihood brought showcased the spirit of the city negatively, which brought piscators onto streets to protest (TNN).
Despite such fierce opposition, the construction went on. Only 2.8% of Mumbai’s population used motorised transportation. Mumbai’s public transportation is its backbone, with rail-line networks spanning across the region. With 44% of its population commuting to work on feet, for whom is the Coastal Road for (Sudhir Badami)? The Coastal Road is part of BMC’s bigger “Ring Road System” plan, a parallel copy of the Dubai road system. The Dubai Municipal Corporation has deep ties with the BMC. In fact, a state-of-the-art underwater train is set to begin, connecting Mumbai ports to Dubai through the Arabian Sea (Times Travel). The futuristic goal of having a “Dubai” like city in India was the city’s utmost endeavour. Further, the BMC thought this would serve as an incentive for MNC’s to integrate further with Maharashtra’s economy. It would also prevent the migration of businesses away from Mumbai (a trend that began through the early 2000s due to crunch of space and increasing street traffic).
Well, the only justification for annexation of territory in the Arabian Sea is Mumbai’s lack of space. However, the repercussions of this occupation far outweigh its benefits. From a global perspective, China undertook a similar reclamation scheme in the South China Sea, but soon gave up its dream based on environmental research of this endeavour. China were supposed creating artificial islands (for military purposes) on low tide elevations in the South China Sea (Carl Thayer). This created an issue of subsidence, the gradual sinking of an area of land (J.J Stauber). Although the Chinese created individual islands, when taking this issue back to Mumbai, it practically involves the entire land-mass of the city. If parts of it begin subsiding due to the Coastal Road project, within no time, the entire city will take the same course. In fact, Mumbai is adjacent to a fairly earthquake prone zone, and the reclamation causes liquefaction (the reclaimed sediments liquify), and can cause major earthquakes comparable to the 1906 San Francisco disaster (Bianca Nogrady). To add to that, Mercury levels were noticed to 2.30 ppm in the area (460 times higher than the permissible level in several countries), which depleted the marine population exponentially (Mohammad Tajfard).
With Mumbai on the brink of this irreversible change, adopting policies from other cities is certainly a solution out of this nuisance. Dubai, considered a sister city of Mumbai, has a world renowned roadway network, but in adherence to environmental norms. It’s created an on-land system, that connects major hubs within the city. Mumbai too can create this expressway network, extending far inland into the industrialised areas, with the use of extensive flyovers. On the other hand, New York City, known for its tapering streets, adopted a policy of alternating single laned roads. All parallel lanes become one-way, helping ease the flow of traffic. Mumbai is built for such a policy. With a shear shortage of road space, such a policy will definitely ease the motor traffic on streets, and all in all, help reduce travel times and environmental pollutions.
There are plenty such examples which city officials could adopt, but none seem to succeed. That’s primarily due to the attitude of Mumbaikars. Ever since the repeated trauma of terror (1993 Mumbai Blasts, 26/11 Terror Strikes to name a few), citizens of this city developed a bubble, that floated ideas solely born and preached in Mumbai. By this, I do not mean the city is ignorant to global issues, but rather a feeling of trust in their process of dealing with a situation. Whatever the wealthy billionaires and politicians of the city professed was ought to be true. Outside opinion was practically abandoned. Despite a strong opposition from India’s central government, the city refused to budge from its ambitious plans of the Coastal Road. It was portrayed as a gesture to demean the grandeur of Mumbai, and shift focus away from the financial capital of the nation onto other rising cities within the country. Push from the 1%, that were the sole benefiters in terms of commuting, too encouraged the undertaking of this hefty project.
Personally, I feel the key to the problem is to change the perception of its people collectively. Creating a sense of unified belonging is essential. If Mumbai’s citizens could stay united through gruesome terror attacks, why not on globally significant issues such as climate change? I primarily base this upon the fast-passed spirit. Vir Das, an internationally acclaimed comedian, once said, “In Mumbai, there is only time for “Dhandha” (work). You blow up a building, we’ll start selling “Bombay Sandwiches” outside it (the next day). There is no time for thought or permanent hatred, only “Dhandha”.” To create a system aligning to the workaholic culture of Mumbai, a divisive plan from the bureaucrats is needed. Shifting focus away from individual transportation unto a more sustainable and convenient public transportation should be the path forward. Putting resources into the dwindling public transportation infrastructure (archaic from the British era) should be the BMC’s utmost goal. If Mumbai can create the same persona of its public transportation as New York City did, problems that led to the ideation of the Coastal Road will be eradicated. One can see millionaires to homeless men using NYC’s subway network, but there never seems to be an issue with that. Similarly, Mumbai should take steps towards this by following the financial capital of the world. More frequent local train services should be put in place and implementation of double-decker buses to meet the rising demand should be the primary goal. In the long run, cycling tracks or city-wide e-scooter services can also be introduced. In fact, in relation to NYC, the ‘Citi Bike’ program was a resounding success, making It highly appreciated (Ana Ley).
While cities like New York are undertaking projects to safeguard its population from adverse effects of climate change (the construction of $119 billion wall around Manhattan to prevent the onset of tidal waves), Mumbai is spending resources in the opposite direction. Wasting $1.6 billion against the cause of climate change hinders all efforts made by several nations over the years. All in all, “Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.” The moment Mumbai’s citizens are made aware through unbiased numbers, steps towards the right direction will be made.
Works Cited:
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