Mumbai's Blinkered Vision of Development
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CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by ePrints@APU COMMENTARY Climate change will have severe envi- Mumbai’s Blinkered Vision ronmental and socio-economic impacts on cities, exacerbating the effects of lo- of Development cal environmental change. Despite the fact that it is crucial for cities to have Sacrifi cing Ecology for Infrastructure clear emission reduction targets, very few do so, and most of these are aspira- tional, neither refl ecting actual mitiga- Amrita Sen, Harini Nagendra tion potential nor appropriate imple- mentation (Seto et al 2014: 973). In fact, Drawing on a discussion of here is a pervasive human aspi- the coming decades are anticipated to fi ve infrastructure projects ration for development, forged witness soaring investments in public in Mumbai, the lack of Tthrough “the ideals of modernity expenditure and infrastructure projects. disseminated since World War II” (Lele In these critical times, it is inexplicable comprehensive focus in policy et al 2018: 2). The appeal of development that we do not yet have a comprehen- on environmental issues is has fascinated planners of Indian cities sive, holistic, cross-sectoral approach highlighted. A project-wise focus for decades. Yet, in practice such devel- to conduct future-proof environmental and an unsustainable pattern opment has not only bypassed the envi- risk assessments of these megaprojects ronment, but also helped in the systemic (Nilekani 2019). City development plans of urbanisation have distanced destruction of ecosystems and the essen- are often designed using a narrowly the city development plans of tial services they provide for Indian cities. defi ned set of objectives, prioritising the Mumbai from achieving essential, Rapid urban transformation has taken growth of built infrastructure (Kennedy interdependent goals of ecological place with little or no consideration of the 2015). This is driven by a fundamental, complex and interconnected impacts blinkered imagination of cities as nodes health, environmental justice, of land-use change, tree felling and eco- for the absorption of surplus capital, dis- and well-being. system destruction, impacting the eco- regarding the impact of such growth on logical resilience of cities. Local environ- the urban marginalised (Harvey 2003). mental impacts, including an increase in Framed within a capital-intensive im- urban heat islands, air pollution and agination of cities, urban development environment-related epidemic outbreaks megaprojects have little incentive to focus are on the rise across urban India (Nandi on social and ecological sustainability. 2018). These impacts will only strengthen Such projects mostly focus on local en- over time, as Indian cities continue to viron mental ramifi cations in a piecemeal grow and expand, driven by a combination manner, if at all, without a concern for the of internal growth and rural distress disruption of the larger urban ecosys- (Revi 2008: 214). tem. Mega development projects have The authors gratefully acknowledge Azim The fi fth assessment report of the severely impacted the ecology and envi- Premji University for funding the research. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ronment of Indian cities, leading to ris- Amrita Sen ([email protected]) and Harini Change (IPCC, Working Group III) fi nds ing air pollution, decreased groundwa- Nagendra ([email protected]) are that urban areas globally account for ter, soaring urban heat island tempera- with the Centre for Urban Sustainability in close to three-fourths of the total green- tures, frequent outbreaks of diseases like India, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. house gas emissions (Seto et al 2014: 928). dengue and swine fl u, and an increasing 20 MARCH 2, 2019 vol lIV no 9 EPW Economic & Political Weekly COMMENTARY frequency of disasters like fl oods. The period, was primarily fuelled by an aspi- diversion of approximately 70 acres, to complexity of the outcomes are rarely ration for making a “world city with off- construct a Metro-3 car shed.1 This area, understood or accounted for. shore fi nancial facilities” (Banerjee-Guha at the fringe of the Sanjay Gandhi Global fl ows of capital and the strug- 2002: 122). Environmental problems have National Park (SGNP), is home to highly gles by individual cities to get a share of been disregarded in the rush for the city biodiverse scrub forests, seasonal fresh- this capital have ultimately resulted in a to rapidly urbanise and globalise itself. water marshes, rocky hillocks and grass- developmental paradox, which neither Accordingly, the City Development Plan lands, and contains endangered fauna serves “public purpose” nor is “future- of Mumbai 2034 refl ects an ambitious such as like leopards, rusty spotted cats proof” (Roy 2009: 79). Such lopsided developmental and infrastructural agen- and pythons (Adhya 2015; Shinde 2017: planning is driven by an urban imagina- da for the coming 20 years. The plan is 80). This colony provides fodder for tion geared towards ambitious residen- geared towards real estate development, around 30,000 cattle, which supply milk tial and infrastructural projects with with a relative disregard of effects on to Mumbai, and is therefore an impor- the stated vision of producing “world water supply, transport, sewage, fl ood tant source of local livelihoods. The Aar- class cities” (Baviskar 2011, 2018; Padma and pollution control, and environmental ey forest area is attractive for real estate 2018). Most urban megaprojects in cities health (Indorewala 2018). Although the lobbies, given the soaring land prices in of the global South reveal an absence plan engages with affordable housing, the area (Parthasarathy 2011). Systemic of an ecological imagination of cities. much of this housing has so far remained efforts to divert the land for golf courses, Instead, functional, thriving ecosystems only on paper. Purportedly for the poor, luxury hotels, residential complexes, petrol like rivers and urban forests are recast the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corpora- pumps and other urban projects have as empty spaces, prospects for future tion (BMC) has earmarked around 2,500 already led to the diversion of about 500 real estate development (Follman 2015). hectares of salt pans in the city, oblivious acres of the colony. In addition to fl ows of capital, urban of the important benefi ts of salt pans as Land diversion for the Mumbai Metro megaprojects are also driven by dis- urban commons that provide important car shed was sanctioned by the BMC in courses on globalisation informed by livelihoods for traditional low-income 2014, despite the risk to 2,700 mature global policy networks (Kennedy 2015). communities, as well as their ecological trees, in one of the last large wooded Such a political economy of urban devel- importance in acting as a buffer against public spaces of Mumbai. Despite wide- opment will continually resist imperatives fl oods in a time of climate-induced sea spread protests from the citizens and en- of social equity, collective well-being, level rise. vironmental non-governmental organi- and environmental protection. A number of cases from Mumbai, taken sations, the proposed diversion remains together, illustrate the systemic disre- in the plans, justifi ed on the grounds Infrastructure against Ecology gard of socio-environmental and eco- that it is sanctioned on government- The popular imagination of Mumbai as a logical impacts in recent years. The Aarey owned forestland. Yet, the project will city epitomising cosmopolitanism is of- Milk Colony of Mumbai, one of the larg- have repercussions far beyond its physi- ten foregrounded in aspirations of grow- est government dairies in India covering cal boundaries. The felling of trees will ing global recognition and employment 4,000 acres and housing several cattle endanger the water retention capacity of opportunities facilitated by a steady fl ow herding hamlets, is subject to a threat of the land along the Mithi river, adjacent of corporate capital. The extent to which STATEMENT about ownership and other particulars of newspaper ECONOMIC & POLITICAL such aspirations correspond to reality, WEEKLY as required to be published in the fi rst issue of every year after the last day of February. let alone to resilience and sustainability FORM IV (See Rule 8) is often unclear. Mumbai has a long list 1 Place of publication: Mumbai of pressing environmental problems, 2 Periodicity of its publication: Weekly 3 Printer’s name: Gauraang Pradhan for Sameeksha Trust listed in a recent report on the World Whether citizen of India: Yes Environment Day 2015, as shrinking Address: 179/14 Hindu Colony, Shakti Niwas, mangroves, toxic air, dying lakes, de- Sir Bhalchandra Road, Dadar, Mumbai 400 014 4 Publisher’s name: Gauraang Pradhan for Sameeksha Trust pleting marine biodiversity, irrational Whether citizen of India: Yes city “beautifi cation” plans, fi res on dump- Address: As above 5 Editor’s name: Gopal Guru ing grounds, e-waste poisoning, degrad- Whether citizen of India: Yes ing forests, and plastic waste dumping Address: 2001 Daffodil, Neelkanth Gardens, (Hindustan Times 2015). Yet, rapid land Shankeshwar Parshwanath Rd., Govandi (E), Mumbai 400 088 transformations through processes like 6 Name and address of individuals who Sameeksha Trust, gentrifi cation continue, mostly fuelled own the newspaper and partners or 320–321, A to Z Industrial Estate, shareholders holding more than Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, by a demand for capital accumulation one per cent of the total capital: Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013. (Chatterjee and Parthasarathy 2018: 2). I, Gauraang Pradhan, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my The agenda of technical management, knowledge and belief. a fundamental feature of Mumbai’s city Mumbai (Gauraang Pradhan) March 2, 2019 Signature of Publisher development plans in the post-liberalisation Economic & Political Weekly EPW MARCH 2, 2019 vol lIV no 9 21 COMMENTARY to the Aarey Milk Colony, leading to the 47.4 hectares of wetland, including the originates from the Powai and Vihar increased risk of fl oods (Adhya 2015).