In 1673 Gerald Aungier, one of the first governors of Bombay made an earnest appeal to the Court of Directors asking them to allow filling up breaches and building a city of what became Bombay and later Mumbai. “The sea has eaten up the best part of the islands. Once the breaches are closed, it would be easier to reclaim the city,” he said.

Exactly 430 years after the reclamations first began, we can see clear signs of filled-up land mass slowly sinking due to environmental change and shifting rain patterns. The World Bank report released last week states clearly that climate change is no longer just a theory, adding that cities like Mumbai and Kolkata are at high risk. “Mumbai has become a city that has the largest population exposed to coastal flooding in the world,” it warns.

The report projects that the sea-level in Mumbai will rise by around 35 cm by the 2050s and around 60 cm by the 2080s. It also warns that the climate projections indicate that the likelihood of occurrence of an event similar to the 2005 floods has doubled.

Reclaimed pastThe reclamation of the inland seas and lagoons by filling the breaches and blocking tidal water entry gave shape to an insular Mumbai. As opposed to common knowledge, the reclaimed areas of Mumbai are not just parts of Marine Drive and Backbay. The whole of Central Mumbai, the southern part of Colaba and even places like Grant Road and Mumbai Central and subsequently the suburbs are essentially reclaimed land mass. “The Bombay Port Trust that was formed in 1873 reclaimed 167 acres of land – from Sewree Bunder to Apollo Bunder, where the Gateway of India stands and further south to Colaba – in its first 30 years. About 538 acres was reclaimed between Sewri and Mazgaon and 310 acres was reclaimed near Wadala and Matunga. In 1906, the PWD drew up a revised plan to reclaim 973 acres of Backbay and 121 acres of Colaba Peninsula,”says B Arunachalam, retired head of Department of Geography at University of Mumbai, in his book Mumbai at Sea.

Alongside the reclamation in Central and south Mumbai, reclamations were also carried out in the suburbs, which was originally a set of 66 villages called Sashti or Salsette. Sion and Mahim causeways had already been opened up to link the island city to the suburbs by the mid-nineteenth century and a significant amount of the land there has been reclaimed by quarrying hills. “Over 40% of the island city and almost a quarter of land in the suburbs, is on low, reclaimed land,” Arunachalam says.

The latest reclamations include the posh office complex of Bandra-Kurla Complex.

The threat is realThe World Bank report warning about the city ecological disasters 40 years later may not seem like an issue that needs immediate attention. However, Debi Goenka of Conservation Action Trust says, “It looks like an underestimate but is very much real.”

Many of the reclamations that were done in the mid and late 20th century were planned scientifically which is why those reclaimed land lie above the mean sea-level. This is primarily the reason why the reclaimed areas currently don’t flood and the original land mass in the older regions of the city do.

“Back bay is reclaimed above the mean sea level and there is also the protective wall at Marine Drive that currently protects the area (from flooding),” says VK Phatak, former Principal Chief Town & Country Planning Division, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

However, Goenka says that with the current situation of climate change the protective walls will not help for too long.“A lot of the climate change is due to the anthropogenic (human) activities. The sea will reclaim the land that we took from it. The boulders and protective walls at Marine Drive, built at a cost of Rs 120 crore, may also not be able to take the pressure for too long,” says Goenka.

Do we have a solution?If experts are to be believed then we still have time to save the city by adopting corrective measures, following coastal regulations and putting a practical disaster management plan in place.

“It is critical to understand that even a 100mm rise in sea level will cause a lot of flooding in the city. This is because we haven’t taken good care of our mangroves and open spaces. We have covered the city with concrete so nothing seeps into the surface, which is why everything flows out. The latest floods in Uttarakhand is an example of what can happen if you don’t follow the CRZ regulations,” says Pankaj Joshi, executive director, Urban Design Research Institute.

DM Sukthankar, a retired IAS officer, who headed the coastal regulations committee for Mumbai and Navi Mumbai says that reclamation needs to be backed by protective measures and that Mumbai has a lot to learn on that front.“Countries like Netherlands and Singapore have a lot of reclaimed land but they have implemented a lot of protective measures. We need to set up a special group that can learn from such countries and make use of the modern technology to deal with the situation,” he says. Joshi says that there are plenty of reports on what can be done, all we need to do is plan realistically and implement what is on paper.

Experts also say that authorities need to keep climate change and ecology in mind before going ahead with projects. “BMC projects are not planned keeping climate change in mind...Unfortunately our decision makers continue to agree to build statues in the sea,” said Goenka.

“We can be in state of preparedness and ensure that we don’t undertake constructions that will further damage the environment,” sums up Sukthankar.

Residents of 57 Thane bldgs await relocationA day after a three-storey building collapsed in Mumbra, local politicians and the Thane Municipal Corporation have woken up to the fact that residents of 57 other buildings that are in a dangerous condition and awaiting relocation to MMRDA’s rental flats.

A month ago, CM Prithviraj Chavan has taken the call to move the residents before monsoon. Dosti Group’s housing scheme in Vartak Nagar, Thane was identified by MMRDA for this purpose. However, none of the 1,500 families from the 57 buildings have been shifted yet.

“We need to have a meeting to decide when and how to shift them,” said Sandip Malvi, TMC spokesperson. TMC is citing procedural issues for the delay.

“We’ve decided to call a special meeting of the general body on June 25 and approve the policy. We have also asked the additional commissioner to bother about formalities later,” said Hanumant Jagdale, leader of opposition in the house.

TMC commissioner Shyamsundar Patil said the corporation has received possession of one of the rental buildings and are awaiting the other within the next week.