Mumbai – Environmental Challenges…

Read through these problems that Mumbai faces, in addition to the detail on page 442

There are multiple environmental problems that Mumbai faces. These include inadequate sewage treatment facilities, rapid disappearance of open spaces, increasing number of vehicles and subsequent air pollution, accumulation of rubbish, contamination of water, and littered and polluted beaches and beach waters…

Water:

  • Sources of water supply are located about 100 km outside city limits in the form of lakes
  • supply of water for only a few hours in the day supply of water for only a few hours in the day
  • Connections to any new tower, clusters or townships are suspended
  • level of underground water is falling and bore wells have to be dug to greater depth
  • contamination level found in the water supplied to the city increased by 19% in 2012/3
  • there are no sewer systems in slum areas and an absence of treatment of waste water flowing in storm water drains.

Electricity:

•Maharashtra having the highest consumer base in the country and tops the list for more deficit compared to other states

•Consumption of electricity is growing faster than production capacity, leading to electricity blackoutson a regular basis

Solid Waste Management:

•Most of collected solid waste is disposed of as mere dumping and levelling at the landfill sitesand levelling

•landfill sites have almost outlived their carrying capacity

•Allotted site likely to be inadequate for the projected solid waste generation

Drainage:

•flooding and water logging during heavy rains and high tides

•discharge of large amount of untreated sewage into creeks, resulting in degradation of coastal water quality, contamination of the adjoining beaches and seafronts

•dilapidated condition resulting in leaks and contamination of ground water and piped water supply

Food

•reduced agricultural productivity due to an increasing shortage of availability of productive land and water for irrigation

• transportation of food from outside the city and storage, requires considerable amount of energy and space

Transport:

  • 85% of Mumbai‘s travel demand is still carried out through mass transport systems Trains : 53%-Buses : 35%
  • Use of personalised vehicles has been rising
  • The city’s suburban railway system, originally designed for a capacity of 1,700 people per 9-car train, runs with super-dense capacities of almost 5,000 people per train during peak time.
  • Slow traffic and environmental pollution are linked to increasing respiratory problems in the city
  • More emphasis is given to infrastructure development that promotes use of private vehicles without due consideration to pedestrians

Air Quality

  • Concentration levels of air pollutants in the city show mixed observations. While sulphur dioxide and lead are found to be below prescribed standards at all six monitoring sites, nitrogen dioxide is exceeded in Khar, Andheri and Maravali (Chembur). Level of ammonia is the highest in Chembur.
  • Suspended particulate levels are high in all six sites.

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