Will new Sena-led Maharashtra govt help free Mahul residents of Mumbai's toxic hell?

Doctors giving voluntarily service in Mahul

Counterview Desk
As doctors keep pouring in to voluntarily help Mahul residents in Mumbai, allegedly left to die of the toxicity in the neighbourhood because of industrial pollution, they expect relief from the new Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra, says civil rights organisation, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA) in a statement.
Asserting that the Shiv Sena had supported demand of relocation of Mahul residents, GBGBA says, "Due the presence of refineries and various industrial units handling hazardous chemicals, Mahul, a fishing village near Chembur, Mumbai, was declared unfit for human habitation back in 2015 by the National Green Tribunal (NTG), a supreme judicial body on environment."

Text:

The observation on the toxicity of Mahul was made by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) after villagers from Mahul approached the tribunal, as they were facing serious respiratory issues due to high level of air pollution who in the neighbourhood.
In spite of such serious observations, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) decided to forcefully rehabilitate poor citizens in Mahul after demolishing their settlements for various developmental projects in the city.
Daily wage workers, domestic helps, security guards, auto rickshaw/taxi drivers, electricians, plumbers, and other informal and skilled workers, who are responsible for subsidising the life in the city, were all dumped in Mahul in 2017.
Many immediately started facing serious health issues, including tuberculosis, asthma, cancer, skin-related issues and paralysis. The Bombay High Court in April this year, and again in September, directed the corporation and the Maharashtra government, to relocate these residents to other houses at safer locations or provide them monthly rent.
This time again the municipal corporation and the Maharashtra government decided to flout the court’s order, which further worsened the health of people living here. More than 300 people have died in a matter of two years, and almost everyone in the 5,500 families, who are living there, are suffering from critical diseases.
In the absence of public healthcare system in the neighbourhood, poor residents are forced to take to private hospitals which are highly expensive. With a monthly average income of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, Mahul residents are left with a difficult choice to choose between their medical expenses and daily expenses. If they decide to take care or medical expenses, they can’t take care of their daily expenses and vice verca.
While the residents continue their fight on the street and in the court for safer housing, Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan (GBGBA) has been organising free medical camps with the help of public spirited doctors to address the lack of accessibility to healthcare and affordability for Mahul residents.
In the second free medical camp that was held on Sunday, December 1, a lot of people came back and apprised GBGBA activists of improvement in their health after the first camp. However, unless air pollution doesn’t come down, diseases are going to come back again.

The new government has boldly decided to stop cutting of Aarey forests. Victims of pollution in Mahul are waiting for their turn to get justice

Mitigating pollution in such a highly-industrialised zone is impossible, and that is the reason why the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in its report on pollution in Mahul recommended that residential zone should be discouraged to live in Mahul.
With the change in power in Maharashtra, Mahul residents are hopeful, as the new government is led by Shiv Sena, which earlier supported the campaign of Mahul residents, but because of the adamant stand of BJP in the previous government, the party couldn’t do much.
On the intervention of Sena leader Aditya Thackeray, 300 new houses were reserved for Mahul residents by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), but MCGM held back the allotment of these houses by citing technical glitches.
Now that the new government has taken the bold decision to stop cutting of Aarey forests, on which there was a huge campaign around, the victims of the pollution in Mahul are waiting for their turn to get justice.
A team of general physicians, gynaecologists, dermatologists, palliative care specialists and paediatricians have been holding camp every week here. However, this excellent initiative will provide temporary relief. A permanent solution can only be attained after all the families are relocated to the abundantly available safer housing for the poor as per the court order.
One hopes the newly-formed Maharashtra government will take urgent notice and follow court orders, relocating Mahul residents to a safe, clean and habitable environment, as promised.

Comments

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

The curious case of multiple entries of a female voter of Maharashtra: What ECI's online voter records reveal

By Venkatesh Nayak* Cyberspace is agog with data, names and documents which question the reliability of the electoral rolls prepared by the electoral bureaucracy in Maharashtra prior to the General Elections conducted in 2024. One such example of deep dive probing has brought to the surface, the name of one female voter in the 132-Nalasopara (Gen) Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra. Nalasopara is part of the Palghar (ST) Lok Sabha constituency. This media report claims that this individual's name figures multiple times in the voter list of the same constituency.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Spirit of leadership vs bondage: Of empowered chairman of 100-acre social forestry coop

By Gagan Sethi* This is about Khoda Sava, a young Dalit belonging to the Vankar sub-caste, who worked as a bonded labourer in a village near Vadgam in Banskantha district of North Gujarat. The year was 1982. Khoda had taken a loan of Rs 7,000 from the village sarpanch, a powerful landlord doing money-lending as his side business. Khoda, who had taken the loan for marriage, was landless. Normally, villagers would mortgage their land if they took loan from the sarpanch. But Khoda had no land. He had no option but to enter into a bondage agreement with the sarpanch in order to repay the loan. Working in bondage on the sarpanch’s field meant that he would be paid Rs 1,200 per annum, from which his loan amount with interest would be deducted. He was also obliged not to leave the sarpanch’s field and work as daily wager somewhere else. At the same time, Khoda was offered meal once a day, and his wife job as agricultural worker on a “priority basis”. That year, I was working as secretary...

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman* Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Proposed Modi yatra from Jharkhand an 'insult' of Adivasi hero Birsa Munda: JMM

Counterview Desk The civil rights network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM), which claims to have 30 grassroots groups under its wings, has decided to launch Save Democracy campaign to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to be launched on November 15 from the village of legendary 19th century tribal independence leader Birsa Munda from Ulihatu (Khunti district).

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

Govt of India "tarnishing" NGO reputation, dossier leaked selectively: Amnesty

Counterview Desk Amnesty International India has said that a deliberate attempt is being made to tarnish its reputation by leaking a dossier, supposedly made by investigating agencies, to media without giving it access to any such information. The high profile NGO’s claim follows a Times Now report about proceedings launched by investigative agencies, including Enforcement Directorate (ED) against the rights body for “violations” of rules pertaining to overseas donations.

How AMU student politics prioritises Islamist ideologies rather than addressing campus-specific concerns

By Yanis Iqbal* In his recent piece titled "Unmasking the Power Struggles of Soqme Teachers Behind the AMU Students’ Agitation," Mohammad Sajjad, professor of modern and contemporary Indian history at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), has has approached the recent protests against fee increases at AMU with a skeptical eye. He portrays them not as a pure, student-led reaction to financial burdens, but as possibly intertwined with deeper institutional rivalries. While recognizing that the university administration faces ongoing demands from the government and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to boost self-generated revenue via fee adjustments, he highlights a key shortfall: neither the administration nor the protesters have shared clear, comparative data on fee structures or their rationale.

Counterview

Search This Blog