Skip to main content

Mumbai's "toxic hell" took life of 20 people since Aug 2018: Memorandum to CM

Counterview Desk
Seeking “urgent” and “immediate” relocation of residents rehabilitated in toxically polluted Mahul, Mumbai’s civil rights organization, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA), a memorandum* to Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra, has claimed that as many as 20 people have died since August 2018 as a result of the health hazard resulting from the extremely high level of environmental pollution in the area, where 5,500 families were dumped in flats for rehabilitation.
The letter follows 7,000 Mahul residents taking part in a raly starting at Carnac Bunder, Mumbai, in which senior citizens, women, children and chronically ill pollution victims marched up to Azad Maidan to present their “simple demand” to the Chief Minister – to honour the Mumbai High Court order of August 2018 to a location safe for human life. In all, over the last two years, following their rehabilitation, GBGBA contents, there have been “over 150 pollution-related deaths”, with hundreds becoming chronically ill.

Text of the letter:

You are already well aware of the issue of rehabilitation of 5500 project-affect families (PAFs) who have been forcibly evicted from the Tansa Pipeline slums and rehabilitated in Mahul, the most polluted industrial area of Mumbai, an area which is declared unfit for human living. The ecology of the sub-region with refineries and a large number of polluting industries , impacts air, water and all life support here. Locating human beings here is a violation of Air Act, Water Act, Environmental Protection Act as well as the orders of the National green Tribunal and the Hon. High Court of Mumbai; all this information is in the public domain.
These families were to be provided with “in-situ rehabilitation” and resettlement, as per your own promise in 2014, and the correspondence related to this commitment by Prakash Mehta, Minister for Housing. The latest in this regard was November 12th, 2108. i.e. over one month back. We are here today to seek your kind approval to the same with consent and order from you to shift the families who were wrongly rehabilitated in this hell immediately and without delay to save these lives.
The interim report of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Mumbai has pointed to multiple hazards which the residents of Mahul are facing daily. As per the report, the direction of the wind in Mahul is such that the Projected Affect Persons (PAP) colony will receive all the pollution from these refineries and industrial units. The report has also pointed to the serious issue of contamination of water. It admits that the drinking water has a thin layer of oil over it and the colour of water also gets brownish, indicating that it is not potable at all, at the very least.
There are some shocking findings in this report, along with other worrying facts related to the unsafe location of the PAP colony, which has already been found to be and officially declared by competent authorities as unlivable for human beings, based on both past as well as latest research, as well as health hazards, and actual pollution-related diseases and deaths faced by these residents on a regular basis.
The High Court of Mumbai on August 8, 2018, has already passed an order directing the Government of Maharashtra to provide alternative accommodation away from toxic Mahul. The government’s failure to implement the order of the High Court has led thousands of Mahul residents to hit the streets to appeal to you. Today is the 49th day of their peaceful dharna-agitation, demanding implementation of the order of the High Court of Mumbai, a protest where the women and children of Mahul, as a temporary resort, have begun their protest from a pavement where pollution is less than that at Mahul.
Twenty people have died out of respiratory diseases directly related to pollution even after the Hon. Court directed the government to provide safer alternative housing. More than 150 have died so far. A report by MCGM has pointed out that 88 people have died in Mahul within the last two-three years. It is inhuman and unjust that no concrete steps are being taken to address an issue as grave as this, with urgency and sensitivity. We have already sent to you as well as all the relevant authorities a number of memoranda and held dialogue with every concerned authority, including Vinod Tawde, Minister for Education, who was your representative on June 29, 2018.
Moreover, it was on 17 July, 2018 that Environment Minister of Maharashtra Ramdas Kadam had officially written to you that Mahul is an uninhabitable place, and that the residents of Mahul should be relocated immediately. Kadam, we know, reminded you again on October 26, 2018.
The findings by IIT-Mumbai, the order of NGT regarding Mahul and the letter from the Environment Minister himself have established that due to the worst level of pollution, Mahul is not safe for human beings, and forcing people to live there is resulting in fatalities and therefore is truly criminal. We urge you to take the right decision and exhibit your sense of justice at the earliest.
You are also aware of the fact that during the ongoing agitation, a meeting was held with Housing Minister Prakash Mehta on November 12, 2018, in the presence of all responsible officers of the Government, as well as MCGB, Bhushan Gagrani and Sanjay Kumar. In the meeting, Mehta gave a decision in his official capacity that 5,500 residents could be rehabilitated in Kurla HDIL. He also coveyed to us your positive approach and consent to in-situ rehabilitation since years, and promised to seek the approvals on the written proposal.
The minutes of the meeting are also attached herewith. He also informed us that as Housing Minister, he had been planning for in-situ rehabilitation of Tansa Pipeline Affected Persons since 2001. He showed us several letters he had written to you in this regard. Copies of some of these letters are attached herewith. While we have been awaiting your official written approval, it emerged that you have refused to approve the proposal to rehabilitate the Mahul residents in Kurla HDIL, even on a temporary basis to save their lives.
We were surprised to know that you have no other plans as an alternative for the rehabilitation of Mahul residents, when their lives are at high risk. With the intervention of Aditya Thackeray, MHADA has come forward and offered at least 350 tenements to the Mahul residents, having looked into the serious issues of life and survival.
We have already sent you a list of PAP tenements, already constructed by different housing agencies like MMRDA and SRA which too are available (refer Annexure A ). However, the best possible option seems to be temporary shifting of all residents to one place simultaneously and immediately (in-situ at their original habitation) i.e. to the HDIL Complex at Kurla. These are available without any barrier or execution difficulties as per Minister for Housing Prakash Mehta, all other officials, Nasim Khan and many other MLAs. We just await your order now.
No objection can be raised by any authority, either since thousands of tenements have been built and lying vacant since years. Considering the urgency and need for a humane solution in the context of pollution-related deaths and chronic diseases in Mahul, this option of HDIL Complex Kurla, will not require the bringing together of many different authorities.
Kindly take a final call on this, and ensure justice by relocating the PAPs who are residing in toxic Mahul to HDIL Complex in Kurla, without wasting any more time or causing more deaths.
---
*Signatories: Medha Patkar Anita Dhole Patil Bilal Khan Haresh Karambale Nandu Shinde, Ashok Maskar Rekha Gadge BR Verma

Comments

Uma said…
Fadnavis needs to visit an Ophthalmologist and an Otorhinolaryngologist.

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

As double engine takes backseat in Odisha, BJP is pitted against 'firmly rooted' BJD

By Sudhansu R Das  BJP has got 25 years to build its party base in Odisha. After 25 years, it felt helpless and insecure to fight elections on its own strength. The party was almost crazy to have an alliance with the ruling BJD in Odisha.  Looking for alliance at the time of election shows that the party has not groomed its grassroots level workers into potential leaders.  The state BJP leaders woke up and convinced the Central leaders that they are capable of going solo; the alliance was stillborn. The question is can BJP defeat BJD which is firmly rooted in Odisha after launching piles of populist programs in the state.