23 minute read
SHAPING THE ‘EDGE’
“In all sectors of housing, transportation, recreation, ownership of land, health or education, segmentation got pronounced leading to a visible dualism in the social and economic space of the metropolis.”
Swapna Banerjee-Guha, 200019
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With an increasing realization of the culmination of the planning practices of reclamation and displacement which strengthen the duality of the city, not only at the local level of Mumbai but on a global scale, redefining the parameters which dictate the urban form has gained traction.
A multitude of theorists and practitioners have proposed their take on these new sets of parameters. Although these vary in scope and proposal, what they do agree on is the importance of critical consideration of environmental and social issues which prevail in the city, especially that on the urban peripheries.
Lack of planning to accommodate the urban poor and the critical infrastructures they need has created conditions where they are “directly invading vital ecological sanctuaries and protected watersheds.”16 Ironically, on the other hand, local institutions fail to realize that “cities need an alliance with Nature in order to recycle their waste products into usable inputs,”17 which could allow economic efficiencies in the provision of resources for the marginalized communities. With instances of the authorities of Mumbai uprooting residents of informal settlements as well as mangroves to make space for development for the privileged, while simultaneously exposing them to the toxicity of unregulated urban industries, the fates of the two seem inarguably intertwined.18
Open waters
Koliwada (Fishing Village) The original islands of Mumbai Mahim Creek, circa 1600
Mahim Creek
Another layer of concern which I would like to note is the effects of the European sense of modernity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which was seen to be exclusive from and superior to the indigeneity of the colonies where the western ideas were implemented.
Taking into account the immense range of influences and their contemporary manifestations, defining the focus of this inquiry— the marginalized urban edge, in terms of how the major players in these spaces have shaped, will continue to shape and could potentially influence the evolution of current practices becomes the focus of this section.
The Mithi ‘River’
Quite like the city which it situates itself in, the Mithi, or historically Mahim river exists in a duality— a part of the undefined aqueous terrain that it wants to be and one of the sewer delineated by the planned hard edges of Mumbai’s urban fabric.20
To understand the issues surrounding the Mithi, its history becomes vital. The origins of this river or channel can be traced back to the early 1800s, when it was a wider thoroughfare called the Mahim Creek and a small outlet with bunds and sills called the Gopar Nullah, connecting the east and west.“Creeks typically make a tenuous
Mithi River formed through land reclamation
Mithi River Mouth of historic Mahim creek and Mithi river
Arabian Sea
Thane Creek
Historic Mahim Creek
Image from the https://frontline.thehindu.com/environment/article25555078.ece (2018)
Base data from https://cadmapper.com/, https://dpremarks.mcgm.gov.in/dp2034/#, https://www.google.com/maps/@19.1065475,72.7906743,11.38z
temporal edge that shifts landward and seaward with changing fluvial and marine flows.”21 As the population and with it, the divisive lines of settlement mapping grew northward the creek began its evolution towards what it is today.
As the population and with it, the divisive lines of settlement mapping grew northward the creek began its evolution towards what it is today. Causeways, bridges and landfills were constructed which demanded a strict definition of land and water. Replicating the practices on the coast the colonial authorities reduced the creek to a line imagined on a map. To instill apparent permanence in this ambiguous terrain, Captain William Brookes built the Sion-Kurla Causeway despite the warnings from the Marine Board of the East India Company. The flow of the Gopar Nullah inspired the creation of the Vehar and Powai Reservoirs, while the nullah came to be known as the Vehar outlet. By 1845, the Mahim creek was completely cut off from the sea except for a small opening in the new Mahim Causeway. This was the end of the Mahim creek which collected water runoff through nullahs and wetlands, playing a vital part in the drainage of the islands.
Subsequent reclamation projects, most recently the Bandra-Kurla complex reclamation, have claimed to have taken positive steps towards the control of the unpredictable Mithi. The falseness of these claims unraveled most famously in the devastating flood of July 26, 2005, where the river imposed its natural instinct to blur the separation between water and land. As noted by Mathur and Da Cunha— “More than the failure of a drainage system or a failure of planning and administration, this disaster is a failure to visualize a terrain that just beneath a surface, which maps show as starkly divided, is today as it was in John Fryer’s time, fluid and dynamic.”22
Despite the very visible discrepancies in the relationship with the Mithi, larger invasive projects such as the Bandra-Worli Sea Link have been implemented. This particular project halved the mouth of the river, trapping in the solid and chemical wastes in the water, in turn destroying ecosystems and affecting the health of the residents of the informal settlements on its banks.23
Authorities such as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) have denied any involvement with reclamation or sewage disposal while the Disaster Risk Management Master Plan (DRMMP) of 2011 admits that the water edges, due to the current pattern of land do become “disaster-prone”, but these are precisely the places where “informal settlements mushroom, living in temporary and unsafe structures with little or no facilities for sanitation, drinking water, electricity and solid waste disposal.”24
The denial and duplicity of the political forces is a major factor in an almost non-existent plan for the recovery of the river, especially when the people who have the least suffer the most as a result of poor sanitation and floods, through capitalist endeavors of their affluent counterparts and seemingly biased process of planning infrastructure.
Mithi has become a symbol for the disregard for water, be it the rain, the sea, the rivers, or the wells, and their limited understanding of the fallout of evidently shortsighted decision making and a need for rethinking the visualization of these spaces.
Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA)
Slums or Informal Settlements and the image of Mumbai in the Anthropocene are deeply intertwined. One of the wicked problems in the city today is the contentious relationship between the capitalist developmental intent of the city, and the spatial extents in terms of
access to critical infrastructures for the citizens whose physical and entrepreneurial input has have built this pucca city. A relationship based on “exploitation and dependency” is what bridges the gap between the two.25 This applies not only to the migrant populations in these settlements, but also the rooted indigenous communities.
The separation of the planned and the unplanned city can be traced back to the influx of migrants in the late 1800s, with the industries being established outside the then consolidated core of the southern part of then Bombay. From that point in time, the dualities between the two worlds have persisted. The establishment of the Bombay Municipal Corporation (now the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) in 1888 and the Improvement Trust in 1898 to manage the rapid population growth and the essential services of the city marked an institutional acceptance of the conflicting treatment of the two worlds of the city.26 The Improvement Trust’s role was the
For profit developer construction
Sub-par SRA construction
https://mumbai.citizenmatters.in/the-sad-story-of-mumbais-first-slum-self-development-project-21373
https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-slum-dwellers-may-soon-turn-their-shanties-intohomes-2394805 planning of chawls (defined in the Introduction as informal settlements) near the northern extents of Bombay and spaces for upper-class housing to consolidate the urban core. More importantly, though, the true aim of the institution was to harness private enterprises.
This structured approach changed with the onset of the 1900s, but the twoness remained. What changed was the willingness of the privileged inhabitants of the core to venture out of the planned city to develop the island. The property values throughout the city rose and there was a boom in the scale of informal settlements. Since then the growth of the city has been defined by planned interventions in the name of economic growth and incremental informality which grows around it in a steady northward direction. For all the growth, the city has failed to accommodate socio-economic realities.
The expansion of Mumbai continued, with increased density because of economic growth, with the formal (transition to a service economy) and the informal (migration and closing of mills) expanding exponentially. The Maharashtra Slum Area Act of 1971followed by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority in 1995 under the Slum Rehabilitation Act. The SRA was to study, redevelop and rehabilitate the slums and their population. This was to be done in tandem with private developers who would buy the lands, clear the slums, redevelop the land into public housing for the prior inhabitants of the area as well as marketable spaces to make a profit.27
The undertaking of the SRA hasn’t gone to plan with shortcomings prevalent on topics of society, economy and environment. The amendment of the policy of clearance appears to be in name only, where policymakers seem to freely deny “basic rights to shelter” and “vital linkage of livelihood and housing.”28 As noted by Manecksha, “in the course of 15 years, only 70,000 shanty houses have been redeveloped into multi-storied single apartments instead of the
promised figure of 10 lakh homes,” while the transit camps devoid of any basic amenities become the permanent solution.29 When it comes to the upliftment of recognized slums, that is those that existed before 2006 (which is inherently unfair), there lacks critical infrastructure such as water and sanitation. Instead water is used as a leveraging tool for political pursuits, as a sign of legitimacy as a citizen.30
In the public hearing of the slum dwellers affected by the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) in 2010 there were certain observations made— • The scheme benefited the profit margins of the builders rather than the slum dwellers. • Initiatives to build, permissible under SRS were never approved. • Due to the top-down approach, innumerable slum dwellers have been denied fundamental human rights or livelihood and shelter. • The houses being given to the slum dwellers post-redevelopment weren’t ‘free’. Their value comes from the large profits that the developers make from selling market-value apartments. • There shouldn’t be a cutoff date for the recognition of these communities.
Recommendations were made by deposed individuals included— • Consultation of the dwellers before implementation of initiatives. • Consideration of Self Re-development schemes, which would economically benefit the government as well. • Implementation of a mandate for public open spaces in developer lead projects. • Considerations of international norms of space planning. • Abolition of Special Builder Zones (SBZ) • Recognition of the value of the migrant workers based on their undeniable input in the building of projects which profit developers. Similar concerns and recommendations have been brought to other SRA hearings as well. An utter failure in meeting the infrastructural needs of the urban poor is a cry out for a critical reassessment of their quality of life. The 2010 DRMMP identifies that there must be a strategy with provisions to “include reducing vulnerability at the level of the city, recognizing informal settlements in land use planning, reducing vulnerability at the level of the settlements within a city through mitigation measures: monitoring local land use changes, and directing effort to prevent mushrooming of new settlements in environmentally sensitive lands through putting available land to suitable alternate use.”31
“Through the city-making process, globalization and its particular transgressions in the urban landscape are realized, but that process is also how the Kinetic City can resist or participate in globalization as well as reconfigure itself socially, culturally, and spatially.”32 With this in mind, a keen understanding of these spaces and the people who occupy them becomes critical.
The pre-colonial relationship between land and sea was a symbiotic one, allowing porosity through their fragmented forms. As Mathur and Da Cunha point out, “topography depended not only upon the season, but also upon the time of day, since the areas between the islands were constantly under tidal influence.”33 The soft coastal transitions were made possible by the mangroves, wetlands and creeks which play a major role in the accommodation of tidal fluctuations and rainwater drainage.
Colonial occupancy saw the relationship between land and sea, one of porosity and integration
mutate into European determinism and economy. Through incremental processes of reclamation, causeways and deforestation of coastal forests “Mumbai evolved from disputable spots of ground to precious stone.”34 This land-centric ideology and the economic gains from it have allowed the normalization of an illusion of growth only through dominating nature. Reclamations have persisted post-independence.
Reclamations, have persisted post-independence. Banerjee-Guha notes how business and commercial interests have become “the most important aspects in urban planning that would augment privatization of infrastructure.”35 She attributes this shift to the obsession of the authorities in the city to establish Mumbai as an incontestable ‘global city’ while ignoring local socio-economic and environmental issues. This has allowed lenient land-use policies and even weaker legislative action in circumstances when these were breached. Also promoting zoning in favor of big money developers when what was needed was housing and critical infrastructure for the middle and poor class. This attentive policy making hasn’t transferred over to environmental policies where there is no “consideration (of) the individual nature of the coast, nor does it allow for the coastal processes and anthropogenic intervention.”36
Coastal Zone Management Plan. Sheet E 43 A 15 / SW. Prepared by the Institute of Remote Sensing , Anna University , Chennai. Published by State Government of Maharashtra. Mapped 2017-2018. Following the UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972, the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) was enacted in 1986. The Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification of 1991 under the provisions of the EPA which inspired the establishment of the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) in 1998 for “the purposes of protecting and improving the quality of the coastal environment and preventing, abating and controlling environmental pollution in the coastal regulation zone areas in the state of Maharashtra.”37
The MCZMA under the 2011 CRZ amendments identified four different coastal zones under their jurisdiction— • CRZ 1: Ecologically sensitive areas. • CRZ 2: Built up areas. • CRZ 3: Rural areas • CRZ 4: Territorial waters and tidal influenced water bodies.38
The most sensitive coastal spaces, such as CRZ 1 and CRZ 3 have been affected adversely in favor of expansion of the built urban environment. CRZ 1 in simpler terms comprises native coastal forests and other such coastal ecologies which also host
CRZ 1A
CRZ 1A 50 m Mangrove Buffer zone
CRZ 1B
CRZ 2
CRZ 3 No Development Zone
CRZ 3 200 to 500 m from High Tide Line
CRZ 4A
CRZ 4B
a variety of animals throughout the year. CRZ 3 usually refers to the traditional Koli fishing villages (see Koliwada subheading).
The most recent high-profile lapse of the MCZMA’s responsibility has been the construction of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, which choked the mouth of the Mithi River, while still allowing waste to be dumped into the river. 70 acres of land was reclaimed, destroying mangroves and indigenous fishing grounds.39 These practices can be directly linked to the consistent threat of floods, especially due to the overflowing of the Mithi. The biggest violation of the tenets of coastal preservation can be attributed to the reclamation for Bandra-Kurla Complex, an action which the MMRDA had ruled to be off-limits. Despite the ruling, 27 hectares had been reclaimed by 2001. This also played and continues to play a major role in choking the Mithi River (more under the Mithi River subheading)
Impetus is given to illegal reclamation and building through the refusal to classify sensitive mangrove areas such as Bandra-Kurla Complex as CRZ-1 zones. This leaves these areas open to future development instead of careful conservation. Construction of slum dwellings and illegal buildings were also allowed in the coastal zones for the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRC). This also eventually benefited the private parties involved in these projects. MCZMA has also normalized the dumping of industrial and solid waste into coastal waters while providing reclamation clearances for large transportation, commercial and industrial expansion while demonizing those against these decisions as anti-development.40
In the wake of the failure of MCZMA, in meeting its goals as well as coordinating with the other institutions of the state, “the danger of ‘myopic’ and ‘singular’ egocentric thinking resulting in superficial correction in the city”41 is evident.
Koliwadas
The Kolis are thought to be the original inhabitants of the geographical area which is now referred to as Mumbai.42 Due to globalization and capitalistic urbanization, these communities are increasingly marginalized in terms of access to housing and infrastructure as well as the threat to their livelihood through the destruction of native ecologies.43
Before the 17th century, the relationship between the human occupants of these lands and the marine ecosystem was based on accommodation and stewardship. This changed at an exponential pace with the implementations of “land-use divisions, zoning regulations and enforced boundaries” in a space that wasn’t meant to be master-planned.44
The inherent link between the Koliwadas or the home of the Kolis and the coastal environment is indisputable, but as Watson explains, “intellectuals of European Enlightenment constructed a
Arabian Sea
Koliwadas in contemporary Mumbai
Bandra Kurla Complex
Thane Creek
Base data from https://cadmapper.com/, https://dpremarks.mcgm.gov.in/dp2034/#, https://www. google.com/maps/@19.1065475,72.7906743,11.38z
mythology of technology. Influenced by a confluence of humanism, colonialism, and racism, the mythology ignored local wisdom and indigenous innovation, deeming it primitive.”45 This detachment from the indigenous ideologies of connection with nature can be witnessed manifesting itself in several ways in the Mumbai of today.
Areas like the mangroves, forests, coastal zones and water bodies have either been privatized or are under government control. These are communized through the often-illegal agency of the urban poor who depend on ‘informal livelihoods’ which are only possible in these spaces.46 Koli communities are at the forefront of the freeing of these lands for universal access and “commons-based resource management and livelihood systems” which preserve coastal ecology and diminish the urban carbon footprint.47
“Exclusionary tendencies and the takeover of common facilities and sites by the middle classes and the elites”48 are exemplified in the heavyhanded implementation of development against desperate Koli protests. These instances also very clearly demonstrate the evident failure of CRZ through “unplanned and non-integrated coastal
Koliwada (Fishing Village)
The original islands of Mumbai
Expansion of Mumbai land through reclamation
Growing settlement adjacent to Koliwada
Koliwada
https://dpremarks.mcgm.gov.in/dp2034/# development activities over the years.”49 The fishermen, to whom the access to the coast is priceless aren’t at the very least consulted during the formulation of the coastal zoning laws.
Some of the major projects with large scale effects of the coastal ecosystem and Koli livelihood are— • The Thermal Plant at Dahanu where1000 acres of wetland traditionally used for fishing was reclaimed, affecting the 1000 fisherfolk. The dumping of ash from the plant has resulted in the disappearance of indigenous fish species. • The Bandra-Worli Sea Link project, where 70 acres of the estuary was reclaimed. This has displaced fisherman who used to use and live in that area, while also choking the Mithi river, thereby increasing the concentration of pollution and devastating the ecosystem.
The access for fishing boats has also been damaged.50 • The CRZ also allows the development of
Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in CRZ 1 areas.
The most destructive example of this was the reclamation of 134 acres of dense mangroves on Thane Creek. Due to activities like these
Thane and Mahim creeks are two of the most polluted locations where fish have almost completely disappeared and coastal forests almost dead due to the low dissolved oxygen levels.51
CRZ violations and the normalization of the marginalization of indigenous populations have resulted in social, economic and ecological problems plaguing these communities. Greater Mumbai has 27 Koliwadas of which 16 are CRZ affected. Each Koliwada has a unique identity but shares its problems of pollution from the city, poor critical infrastructure, sub-par housing, migrant encroachment, rising costs and a lack of space to perform entrepreneurial activities.
Economy of Mangroves
If one were to make an argument for the preservation of Mangroves (wetlands and mudflats as well), the coastal ecosystems and the livelihoods connected to them within the frame of a capitalist society, the opportunity cost of doing so must be outweighed by the proposed intervention. This makes an insight into the relationships that exist or could develop between the economy of the city and its natural edges.
To fairly evaluate the value of the coastal forests and their ecological network it becomes evident that these complex systems should be viewed in terms of the various layers that constitute them and how these layers intersect with aspects of the urban economy. Since the impact of the coastal forests isn’t merely inward but influences a chain of activities far beyond their spatial presence, one must also be diligent of the direct and indirect economic input. Lastly, it also becomes abundantly crucial to address the ideological foil to the conservation of the natural counterparts of the urban fabric.
In a service-based capitalist economy that Mumbai identifies with, framing the value of mangroves in terms of services that it provides emerges as a path to economically incentivize them. Broadly the services that can be categorized are Ecological, Cultural and Market services. I will further break these down into the various layers at which these services exist.
Ecological
• Air quality regulation: The vegetation contributes significantly to the absorption of air pollutants, while also producing oxygen. In this sense, the economic input is the management of air toxicity levels, without the need for the development of top-down mechanized systems to do so. • • Climate regulation: Through the sequestration of greenhouse gases, especially carbon, they are an important tool in countering global warming which would submerge the valuable edges of Mumbai.
The destruction of mangroves, on the other hand, leads to the release of the sequestered carbon, expediting climate change and putting the economic as well as social interests of the city at risk. • Water regulation and Natural hazard protection: Mangroves can be seen as an intersection between multiple systems of hydrology, allowing drainage and flow of storm and tidal waters. This becomes especially important in an aqueous terrain such as Mumbai’s. This becomes important in controlling natural calamities such as floods; by allowing drainage, tidal surges; by physically retarding the power and size of waves, allowing for protection from damages which lead to massive economic losses which could see the breakdown of critical infrastructure if left unchecked. • Erosion regulation: Mangroves, with their complex network of roots, not only hold existing land in place but also are vital in the process of creating nutrient-rich, occupiable land by trapping silt. The idea of these soil surfaces in the mangroves rising with the rising sea levels, to maintain the integrity of the city through a natural process has been explored.
This becomes a vital boost to economies and land value in Mumbai since much of the city is built on erosion-prone reclaimed land. • Water quality control: Mumbai, although now a service economy, has a high density of industrial and commercial activities as well as an ever-increasing population that overloads the sewage treatment systems. With the ability to deal with toxic compounds such as nitrates and heavy metals, mangroves can be the much-needed natural counterpart to the sewage treatment systems. This would economically benefit the city by curbing health risks, protecting the seafood sector and promoting other non-quantifiable benefits to offshore water quality.
• Provision of habitat: The coastal forests support a wide range of flora and fauna, some permanently and some temporarily. They act as breeding grounds for fish and birds while acting as a migratory home for species such as Flamingo. Preservation of these could open opportunities for new economic dimensions of ecotourism while maintaining the natural balance of the ecology.
Cultural
• Cultural heritage: Being one of the few remnant aspects of the geographical region before it was transformed into the Mumbai of today, these forests hold great cultural significance to the Koli communities and could become a symbol of change in Mumbai, playing a vital role in empowering the fishing economy while creating new avenues for tourism. • Recreation and tourism: Given the extensive biodiversity and little exposure to these coastal ecologies at a global scale, mangroves could become an increasingly enticing destination for travelers and while making Mumbai a market leader in redefining what a global city can be. • Preservation of indigeneity: Given the intrinsic relationship that the Koli communities have with the preservation of these mangroves and the realization that this relationship and understanding of these natural systems could be pivotal in preserving Mumbai, it makes economic sense to preserve the cultural interests of this community.
Market
• Fishing: This service is by far the most quantifiable reason to preserve mangroves.
The fish that breed in the mangroves leads to about 23% of India’s total catch, roughly translating to Rs. 68 billion. Warrier explains, in a 2017 article for Nature India, “Marine fish breed and nurse young ones in the mangroves. Young fish grow in the secure maze of breathing roots before venturing into the sea.” While considering 45-55% inefficiencies, it has still been calculated that each square kilometer of mangrove produces 185.84 tonnes of fish. Given that Mumbai and
Navi Mumbai currently have approximately 75 sq km of mangroves as a part of India’s 4,740 sq km.52 TThrough this information, it can be deduced that the current value of the fishing sector in Mumbai is Rs.1.1billion or $ 15 million (as per the exchange rate on Oct 8, 2020).
Preserving and restoring the mangrove cover would lead to a boom in the fish production economy. • Fresh water: Mangroves filter toxins out of water that they come in contact with. This could lead to a market for passive systems with a very low maintenance cost as a support system to the mechanized treatment systems in cities like Mumbai. • Natural raw materials: Resources such as wood, natural medicines, fiber, among others.
These, if extracted and managed sustainably could lead to the creation of a market for indigenous products allowing the position of these communities to be consolidated in the city as well.53
These economic benefits merely listed couldn’t make a difference. As Jha and Everard propose, using “innovative ‘payment for ecosystem services’ (PES) markets offer an emerging means.” They say that the best avenues in this sense could come for the protection of built infrastructure. These can be the marketable aspect which can also be bundled with other services, as well as responsibilities for the management of these forests. They also note that in this process “economic assessments should not be taken as of absolute, but rather as indicators of the scale of likely impacts.” 54
I imagine a new method of graphically mapping these ecologies as systems that are inherently tied to the city than separate might be the catalyst to generate much-needed action in the coming decades.
