Mumbai Plan

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Location

Greater Mumbai Metropolitan area or BrihinMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) area, is divided in two revenue districts viz Mumbai city District and Mumbai suburban District. Greater Mumbai of Maharashtra is entirely urban. It extends between 18o and 19.20o northern latitude and between 72o and 73.00o eastern longitude. It has an east to west extend of about 12 km. where it is broadest, and a north - south extend of about 40 km.

Geographically speaking, Greater Mumbai is an island outside the mainland of Konkan in Maharashtra separated from the mainland by the narrow Thane Creek and a somewhat wider Harbour Bay. At present, it covers the original island group of Mumbai, and most of the island of Salsette, with the former Trombay island appended to it in its Southeast. A small part in the north the Salsette island however, lies in Thane District. The Salsette-Mumbai island creek and the Thane creek together separate it from the mainland. Thus the area of Greater Mumbai is surrounded on three sides by the seas: by the Arabian Sea to the west and the south, the Harbour Bay and the Thane Creek in the east - but in the north, the district of Thane stretches along its boundary across the northern parts of Salsette. The BMC limit extends upto Mulund, Mankhurd and Dahisar.

It’s height is hardly 10 to 15 meters above sea level. At some places the height is just above the sea level. Part of Mumbai City district is a reclaimed land on Arabian sea coast. Mumbai City is one of the first four metropolitan areas in India.

It is the capital city of Maharashtra State. It has global importance since Mumbai is an international sea port and the international Sahar airport. Because of these, many multinational companies have set up their commercial base in Mumbai. It is also well connected with other parts of India by Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway. Mumbai has strategic importance from the defence point of view, with headquarters of Western Naval Command and important offices of Army, Air force and Coast guard.

1.2 Area and Divisions

Greater Mumbai covers an area of 437.71 sq. km. that constitutes 0.14 per cent of the total area of the State of Maharashtra. The importance of Greater Mumbai is also apparent from the fact that the it supports a population of about 9.9 million sharing 12.57 per cent of the population of the State (as per 1991 census) with sizeable day-time floating population from places like Thane, Nashik, Raigad and Pune districts, including the population from municipal corporations of Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivili, Ulhasnagar in Thane district and Panvel in Raigad district.

The Mumbai City District is covered by area of only 67.79 sq. kms. This district has no revenue tahsils but land record administration is being done according to Revenue Divisions and there are as such 19 revenue divisions in the District. All other administrative work is being done according the municipal administrative wards and there are 9 municipal wards in the district; A to E wards, F/South and F/North, G/South and G/North wards.

The Mumbai Suburban District covers an area of 370 sqkm. The District consists of one administrative sub-division comprising three Tahsils (that is, Kurla, Borivali and Andheri). The district covers 14 municipal wards of BMC, and is also referred as Eastern Suburbs and Western Suburbs.

Each ward is under the administrative control of a ward officer. There is a Municipal Commissioner along with the Mayor-in-Council to oversee the activities of the BMC. There is a police commissionerate for the entire BMC area headed by the Police Commissioner with the headquarters at Crawford Market. The BMC area is further divided into seven police zones. The traffic commissionerate headquarters is located at Crawford Market and there are seventeen traffic divisions in Mumbai.

The fire brigade is established under the BMC act, and has its headquarters at Byculla. There are in all 23 fire stations in Mumbai. The Fire Brigade is administratively divided into three Regions, each under the charge of a Deputy Chief Fire Officer. Each Region is further divided into Sub-Divisions, comprising a certain number of fire stations under the charge of Assistant Divisional Officer.

1.3 Salient Physical Features and Land Use Patterns

1.3.1 Soil

The predominant soil cover in Mumbai city is sandy whereas in the suburban district, the soil cover is alluvial and loamy.

Backbay and Bandra reclamation are the major reclamation areas of Mumbai in the Arabian sea.

1.3.2 Geology and Geomorphology

The entire Greater Mumbai area is occupied by Deccan basalt flows and their acid and basic variants, poured out between the late Cretaceous and early Eocene times. The basaltic flows are horizontally bedded and are more or less uniform in character over wide areas. Certain extrusive and intrusive mafic types are associated with basalt’s and are found in the Mumbai Islands and it's vicinity. This is in contrast to the monotonous uniformity displayed by the Deccan basalt’s in general. Furthermore, some fossiliferous sediments, mainly of tufaceous origin and partly of fresh water origin, rich in fauna, are also found in Mumbai area.

The stratigraphic succession of rocks in Mumbai area is given below : -

Recent                             : Alluvium, Sand and recent Conglomerate

Cretaceous to Eocene :  Laterite
                                            Trap dykes
                                            Volcanic agglomerate and breccia Basalt flows with interbedded ash beds and fossiliferous fresh water shakes.

1.3.2.1 Mumbai Island

Mumbai Island has ridges along its western and eastern side. The city of Mumbai is built on the centrallow-lying part of the island. The western ridge comprises stratified ash beds overlain by hard, massive andesitic lava flows, both formations showing gentle tilt towards the west. The stratified ashed which display variegated colours and variable textures attain a total thickness of about 45m. The varieties are, from bottom to top : i) coarse grained acid fuffs of variegated colours noticed to the east of Worli fort, ii) Yellowish brown ash exposed near Chowpatty beach, along the embankment of Walkeshwar road, Malabar Cumballa ridge, Haji Ali tomb and the Worli fort hills. The exposures at Worli contain fossil tortoise and frogs ( Rana Pussilla ) and iii) coarse grained carbonaceous ash covered by yellowish brown tuffaceous ash devoid of fossils.

The ash beds are capped by massive lava flows which attain a thickness of about 16 m. The rocks are aphanitic, have a conchoidal fracture and exhibit conspicuous hexagonal columnar jointing. They are exposed on the Malabar, Cumballa, Worli hills and extend on to the Salsette island. Dark coloured fossiliferous shales attaining a thickness of about 2m. are exposed at the foot of the Worli hills. Being deposited during a period of quiescence and overlain by a later flow, these beds are known as Intertrapean Beds. They are very significant as the fossils in them are helpful in fixing the possible age of the associated lava flows.

The eastern ridge represents a different suite of rocks. They are, from bottom to top :

i) basalt, greenish amygdaloidal basalt exposed at Bhoiwada , Mazagaon and Koliwada hills, ii) red ash breccia noticed in the exposures at Sion, iii) highly chilled basic lavas of Sewri fort and Antophills described as Melaphre in the older literature, iv) stratified ashes of Sewri and Cotton Green , the exposures described by earlier students of the geology of Mumbai are now covered by building, but are exposed in some road cuttings.

The geology of the intervening low lands is more or less obscured by the development of the city of Mumbai. but some of the recent excavations near Flora Fountain, Old Custom House and Dadar have revealed the presence of either the greenish- grey basalt or the yellowish brown ash.

1.3.2.2 Salsette Island

The central portions of Salsette island comprise a range of hills trending north-south merging into the tidal swamps towards the east, while towards the west these hills pass into wide plains with a few isolated hillocks. Basalt is the major rook unit constituting the main ridge extending from Ghatkopar, east of Jogeshwari, Aarey Milk Colony to Kanheri and beyond . At places, there are ash beds intervening between successive flows, these may be seen in the cuttings of the Western Express High-way passing through Jogeshwari. The isolated hills near Andheri , Jogeshwari railway station, Chincholi and Mandapeshwar are also largely composed of basaltic types. Acid to sub-acid types are associated with the basalts at Dongri, Manori, Madh, Karodiwadi, Malad and Kurla. The basalts in the quarries at Gilbert hill, Andheri, exhibit perfect columnar jointing with spectacular pentagonal columns, over 40m. in height.

Another interesting geological feature is the occurrence of a vast thickness of volcanic agglomerate near Tulsi lake and Kanheri caves, indicating a possible volcanic focus from which much of the pyroclastic rocks in the Mumbai and Salsette islands may have extruded. These agglomerates are largely made up of elongated sub-angular vesicular bombs, blocks of brown chert, trachyte, volcanic ejectment and small pieces of yellow to reddish brown limonitic matter, varying in size from a few centimetres to as much as one metre, set in a matrix of dense, dull light grey amorphous material. At places this matrix resembles bauxite. Some of these agglomerates show fine banding and layers with alternate silliceous and tuffaceous matter, at places with beautiful and intricate applications and contortions. Some of the horizons of the agglomerates and breccias, particularly those which are bauxitised, are quite soft. Differential weathering has resulted in the siliceous bands which stand out as fine minute ribs in some places, simulating fossil wood. This feature may be observed in caves no 84, 85, 86 and 87 at Kanheri. The basalts are intersected by sills and dykes of olivine dolelite, tachylyte etc. The dykes have a general north - south trend and appear to be limited to the eastern margin of the main ridge from west of Mulund, and the eastern banks of the Vihar lake to Vikhroli. Some of these dykes extend further south towards Mankhurd, Chembur and Nanole in the Trombay Island.

Volcanic breccias and ashes interbedded with basalts are noticed at several places near Ghod Bunder, around Tulsi and Vihar lakes, Santacruz, Kurla and Sion. The plains to the west of the main ridge extending from north of Bandra to Borivali and beyond are clothed by marine alluvium represented by saline marine muds, recent shell - limestones, calcareous sand stones, etc. A fair stretch of shore sands with occasional duns extends from Juhu in the south to Varsova, Marve and Manori in the north.

1.3.2.3 Trombay Island

This island is separated from Mumbai and Salsette by intensive tidal flats with a series of low hills extending north-south in the centre. Facies of amygdaloidal olivine basalt dipping gently towards west, with ramified layers and dykes of rock types described variously as oceanite, ankaramite and monchiquite etc. are prevalent in this area.

Laterite : Small plateaus east of Kanheri caves and south-west of Tulsi lake are covered by laterite with bauxite pockets at 5000m. elevation above sea level.

1.3.2.4 Structure

Faults : A well marked fault is seen near Antop hill. Sukheswala ( 1958 ) has given evidence for two north-south running faults in Mumbai island, one to the east of Western ridge and other running along the western ridges. The faults extend into Salsette island and have maximum throw of 75' and 40' respectively.

1.4 Climate and Rainfall

BrihanMumbai receive rains from south-west monsoons, which commence usually in the first fortnight of June and last till the end of September. Pre-monsoon showers are received in May. Occasionally, north-east monsoon showers occur in October and November, but rarely more than twice in the entire rainy season.

In Mumbai city district, the average maximum temperature is 31.2 degree Celsius, while the average minimum temperature is 23.7 degree Celsius. The average total annual rainfall is 2146.6 mm. The maximum annual rainfall was recorded in 1954 at 3451.6 mm.

The details about climates and rainfall in Mumbai Suburban District as recorded at Santacruz rain gauge station of India Meteorological Department are as under :-

The climate of the Mumbai Suburban District is tropical maritine. The daily maximum temperature ( mean ) range from 29.1 c in August to 33.3 c in May the month of April. Daily minimum temperature ( Mean ) range from 16.3 c in January to 26.2 c in May. The average annual rainfall of this District based on last 30 years data is 2457.0 mtrs. The District receives an average seasonal rainfall of 2363.0 mm during June- September. The average monthly rainfall is highest in the month of July (945.4 mm) followed by August ( 660.4 mm ) The monthly rainfall in June is 647.5 m.m. and 309.2 m.m. in September.

1.5 Socio-Economic Features

During last 35 years there has been a continuing shift of population from Mumbai city District to Mumbai Suburban District and now further to part of Thane District.

1.5.1 Demographic Features

According to the 1991 census, the demographic features observed in Greater Mumbai are as follows:

Total number of households      : 2,051,000
Total Population                            : 9,926,000

Total Male Population                  : 5,460,000
Total Female Population            : 4,466,000
Sex Ratio                                       : 818

Urban Population                         : 9,926,000

Population density                       : 16,461

Literacy Rate                                 : 82.50 %

Male Literacy rate                         : 87.87 %
Female Literacy rate                   : 75.80 %

SC/ST

[Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes are socially handicapped groups listed in the Schedule of the Indian Constitution]

SC percentage                 : 6.52 %
ST percentage                  : 1.05 %

Literacy rate in SC           : 59.40 %
Literacy rate in ST            : 54.98 %

Slum Population percentage : 74 per cent

1.5.2 Historical, religious and tourist centres

There are many historical religious tourist places in Mumbai. The main centres of importance in Mumbai are :

1.5.2.1 Government and semi-government establishments

Mantralaya of the state, Assembly hall, Reserve Bank, India Government Mint, Mumbai University, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research International Port, Western Naval Command Headquarters, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, I. I. T. Powai, NITIE, LIC

1.5.2.2 Religious centres

Haji Ali, Mount Mary Church, Babulnath temple, Mahalaxmi, Siddhi-Vinayak, ISKCON, Dr. Saidhna’s Mosque, Chaitanya Bhoomi

1.5.2.3 Entertainment centres

Taraporewala Aquarium, Nehru Science Centre, Jahangir Art Galley, Prince of Wales Museum, Hanging Garden, Chowpatty Beach, Juhu Beach, Madh-Manori-Gorai-Aksa beaches, Film city, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Esselword Entertainment Park, Powai, Tulsi and Vihar lakes

1.5.2.4 Archaeological and Historical locations

Gateway of India, Elephanta, Kanheri caves, CST Railway station, BMC building, Western Railway headquarters, Rajabhai Towers at University of Mumbai, High Court, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mahim Sanctuary

1.5.2.5 Places of mass congregation

Shivaji Park, Wankhede Stadium, Andheri Sports Complex, Brabourne stadium, SNDT grounds, Race course

1.6 Power stations/Electrical installations (receiving station)

The electricity requirements of Greater Mumbai are met by the Tata Hydro-Electric system through three distribution agencies; namely the Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) in the island of Mumbai, the Brihinmumbai Suburban Electric Supply Company (BSES) covering areas of the western suburbs and southern parts of eastern suburbs and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) covering the Northern areas of the eastern suburbs.

The BEST is supplying electricity in Mumbai City area from Colaba to Sion/Mahim over the area of 60 sq.kms. The BEST Undertaking, is purchasing the electricity from Tata Electric Companies (TEC) and distributing the same in Mumbai City. They are purchasing electricity from TEC at four points located in Mumbai City area. These points are

· Carnac Receiving Station :- Sant Tukaram Marg, off Lokmanya Tilak Road, Carnac Bunder, Mumbai.
· Parel Receiving Station :- Parel Tank Road, Parel.
· Mahalaxmi Receiving Station :- Senapati Bapat Marg, Near Ambica Mill, opp. Todi Indl. Estate, Lower parel.
· Dharavi Receiving Station :- Andhra Valley Road, Near Shalimar Indl. Estate, opp. Andhra valley Colony, Dharavi.

They receive the power at their 35 receiving stations and distribute the same through the network of 1706 substations and HV & LV underground cables. The substations are located at different locations in the entire area of their supply. There are two control centres, one at Vidyut Bldg, Pathakwadi opposite G.T. Hospital and another at Transportation House, Tilak Road, Dadar. All these 35 receiving stations, 1706 substations and two control centres are very important installations from point of view for distribution and supply of the electrical energy. The list of these 35 receiving stations and two control centres along with their address is enclosed separately in Annexure I.

The four receiving stations of TEC mentioned above are fed from their generating stations through overhead high voltage transmission lines. These generating stations are also connected to the Maharashtra grid. TEC is also having their high voltage consumers in Mumbai City area.

At present electricity generation and transmission is being done in Mumbai by the Tata Hydro-Electric Power Supply Company. The Company has generation stations at Trombay and Khopoli. It has its receiving stations at Mumbai and surrounding areas. The Andhra Valley Power Supply Company has also a generation station at Trombay and another at Bhivpuri. It has also receiving stations in Mumbai and the surrounding areas. A list of power stations in Mumbai Corporation area and their locations is also enclosed.

In addition to this, direct supplies are also made from the Tata Hydro-Electric system to consumers with huge load demand like the railways, textile mills and a few other industries.

1.7 Water Supply and Sanitation

There are two rivers in Greater Mumbai, Dahiser River and Mithi River

The Dahiser River originates at Kanheri caves and meets Gorai creek. Similarly the Mithi River originates at Vihar and meets Mahim creek. Over flow of Vihar, Tulshi and Powai lakes goes to Mithi River. There are no rivers in Mumbai City District.

There are three dams in Mumbai Suburban District.

Name, location, capacity and catchment area

All the above three dams are impoundage on lakes. Mumbai receives its water supply through these dams and other dams located in Thane district.

Solid waste dumping sites are located at Deonar, Mulund, Malad and Gorai.

1.8 Slums

Around 74 per cent of the total population in Greater Mumbai is staying in hutment or slum colonies. Due to escalating costs of land and materials and increasing population, it has become almost impossible to acquire residential property on ownership or even rental basis for a very large proportion of households.

BMC has focused its efforts to provide the basic amenities like water, toilets and electricity in authorised slum colonies but still large proportion of population is staying in unauthorised slums and these basic amenities are very rare in such slums. All the slum colonies whether authorised or unauthorised are vulnerable to floods, health hazards, fires and cyclones.

1.9 Economy and Industrialisation

The employment count for Greater Mumbai was 34.35 lakhs in 1991 and this level of economic activity is higher than remaining part of the Maharashtra. As regards the pattern of employment in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, the primary sector is not important in Greater Mumbai since only about 7 in 1000 workers are working in primary sector as their main activity whereas 41.21 percent of the workers are working in secondary sector and 58.12 percent workers are working in tertiary sector.

The proportion of women workers is much lower in primary and secondary sectors. The geographical distribution of the main workers according to their residence shows that the workers are concentrated in F/S and G/S wards of Mumbai city and P/S, P/N, R/S and R/N wards of suburban area. As for trade workers, the workers come from all the wards of Mumbai city as well as H/W, K/W, R/S and R/N, M/W and T wards in Mumbai suburban area.

The extent of industrialisation gets reflected by the member of industrial estate and industrial activity and in terms of movement of cargo.

Types of Industries : Engineering, Printing, Garments, Plastic, Textiles, Chemical Oil Installation etc.

It is reported by the Director of Industrial Safety & Health, Mumbai that the major types of hazardous chemicals and hazardous finished products transported are:

(1) Chlorine, (2) Ethylene Oxide, (3) L.P.G., (4) Motor Spirit, (5) Superior Kerosene Oil, (6) Methanol, (7) Ammonia, (8) Hexene, (9) Naptha, (10) Propylane, (11) Butadience (12) Styrene.

1.10 Transport and Communication Network

Mumbai has three entry and exit points at Mankhurd, Dahisar and Mulund with octroi check posts at each point. The main road stretches are the Eastern Express Highway from Sion to Mulund leading to NH-3, Western Express Highway from Bandra to Borivali leading to NH-8, and Sion-Panvel road leading to NH-4 and NH-17.

1.10.1 Surface Transport

The main modes of transport are through the mass transport provided by Central Railway (from CST to Khopoli and Kasara on the main line and Panvel on the harbour line), Western Railway (from Churchgate to Virar) and BEST buses within BMC limits and upto Navi Mumbai and Mira Road which are outside BMC limits.

1.10.2 Outstation travel

For outstation traffic, Central Railway, Western Railway and Konkan Railway operate from CST, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, and Kurla terminus while MSRTC operates buses from Mumbai Central, Parel, Dadar, Borivali and Kurla depots. In addition, there are many private transporters who operate luxury and semi-luxury buses to outstation locations.

1.10.3 Waterways

Recently, hovercraft services and ferry services have started operating during the non-monsoon period from Gateway of India to Navi Mumbai, Uran, Alibag, Rewas and Juhu.

1.10.4 Air Travel

The international airport is at Sahar, which on an average has 4 million passengers alighting and departing in a day.

The domestic airport is located at Santacruz which on an average has 4.2 million passengers alighting and departing in a day.

1.10.5 Details of transport network

List of Jetties (Minor landing Centre) :

Bandra Port, Worli, Mahim, Sewree, Sasoon Dock, Apollo Bunder, Chimbai, Mahul, Turbhe, Manori Port, Gorai, Manori Marve, Malvni, Yerangle, Bhati, Juhu Tara, Danda (East), Danda (West ), Versova Port, Madh/Patwadi , Versova (W), Versova (E).

2. RISK ASSESSMENT AND VULNERABILITY ANALYSIS

2.1 Vulnerable settlements

There are in all 2335 slum settlements as per 1985 data in Mumbai.

These slums are considered as vulnerable settlements due to their location and access to infrastructure. The locations include hilltops, slopes, nallahs, low-lying areas (with tendency to flood during high tides), coastal locations, under high tension wires, along highways, along railway lines, within industrial zones, pavements, along water mains, along open drainage

The major wards having a concentration of more than 100 slums are given below :

G-N :                           131

H-E :                           252

K-W :                          120

M-E and M-W :            296

P-N :                           202

S :                              149

These slums are located on the lands of state government (25 %), BMC (20 %), Housing Board and central government (5 %), private lands (50 %). The ownership of these lands has implications for intervention strategies.

2.2 Floods

There are ten rail sections in Central Railway which get submerged during heavy rains as given below :

· Masjid Rly station to Sandhurst Rd
· Sewri-Wadala
· Matunga Sion
· Kurla Station
· Guru Tej Bahadur Nagar-Chunabhatti
· Mankhurd Station
· Vidyavihar-Ghatkopar
· Kanjurmarg-Vikhroli
· Nahur cabin area
· Mulund station

In the Western Railway, there are 12 rail sections as given below which get submerged during heavy rains :

· Between Dadar and Matunga Rly-Stations
· Near Dadar Sewage Puri Fication Centre
· Near Elphinstone Rd Rly Station
· Between Elphinstone Rd and Lower Parel, Rly-Station
· Near Lower Parel Rly-Station
· Between Lower Parel and Mahalaxmi Rly-Stations
· North side of Mahalaxmi Rly-Station
· Southside of Mumbai Central Rly-Station
· Below Platform of Mumbai Central Rly-Station
· Culvert below Platform of Marine Lines Rly-Station
· Between Marine Lines & Churchgate Rly-Station
· Charni Rd Rly-Station near Catholic Gymkhana

There a number of flooding points which result in disruption of traffic and flooding of settlements. The number of flooding points in each ward is given below

The ward wise number of flooding points is given below :

Most of these flooding points have been listed in the ward plans and have a localised impact. However, some of these flooding points have a tendency to disrupt the traffic and paralyse city life.

A number of steps such as de-silting of drainage and clearing of nallahs are taken by BMC and Railways to avoid such flooding. However, a combination of heavy precipitation and high tide may make such flooding unavoidable.

2.3 Fires

Greater Mumbai is greatly diversified and practically has every type of fire risk. The fire risk can arise from the following sources :

· large number of closely built old timber framed buildings in Ward A, B and C
· high-rise buildings with inadequate fire-fighting facilities
· commercial activities in Kalbadevi, Mumbadevi, Bhuleshwar, Vadgadi, Bhendi Bazar, C.P.Tank
· small, medium and heavy hazardous industries in suburban areas
· widespread docks area
· oil refineries in M-W ward
· petrochemical industries
· large slum settlements.

There are 2600 officers and men spread over 23 stations, to fight the fires.

2.4 Earthquakes and house crashes

The major earthquakes that have occurred in Mumbai region in the last 400 years are given below :

As per the 1991 census, Greater Mumbai has 2,768,910 dwellings, including residential, commercial and industrial establishments. Of these, only 9.08 % of the dwellings were made of re-inforced concrete while 31.35 % were engineered masonry constructions. Thus, 59.57 % of all constructions were non-engineered. This can partly be attributed to the large percentage of population living in the slums.

Therefore, the major risk category of structures is that of the engineered masonry constructions. Many of these are essentially load-bearing structures.

There are 19642 cessed buildings in Mumbai city district. Due to the Rent Control Act restrictions against raising the monthly rent, the landlord did not take up maintenance of buildings for several years. This has resulted in the deterioration of the buildings ultimately leading to their collapse. The Maharashtra Government intervened and took over the responsibility of maintaining these building by constituting the Bombay Building Repairs & Reconstruction Board in the year 1969.

The break up of these 19642 buildings is as follows .

1) A- category (constructed prior to 1-9-40)                                16502
2) B- category (constructed between 1-9-1940 to 31-12-50)           1489
3) C- category (constructed between 1-1-51 to Sept. 1969)            1651
                                                                                                --------
                                                                                    Total   19642

Out of the total 19642 buildings, some of the buildings have been reconstructed and some have collapsed. Thus the total number of cessed buildings existing today is around 18,580. Many of these buildings have been repaired several times in the past from the permissible cost ceiling limit of Rs.75/m2. This has now been revised to Rs. 750/m2.

The Engineers of the Board undertake frequent inspection of these buildings and take all preventive measures to protect the building from any collapse due to its weak structural constitution. Usually dangerous portion of these buildings are propped up and in many cases demolition of dangerous portion also has also been resorted to.

Apart from the legal hurdles, paucity of funds has slowed down the work of Mumbai Repairs Board considerably. House Collapse is therefore a regular phenomenon and in the absence of adequate transit accommodation, emergency shelters become a major requirement in the event of house collapse.

2.5 Landslides

Greater Mumbai also faces the risk of Landslides With pressure on land, many vacant sites on hill slopes or bottoms of hills have turned into inhabited area and thereby become vulnerable to landslides. Most cases of landslides occur during heavy rain associated with high velocity winds. It sometimes results in loss of human lives and damage to structure.

The sites vulnerable to landslides in Mumbai city district are as follows :

The many sites vulnerable to landslides in Mumbai suburban district are essentially located on or near the abandoned quarries and hill ranges. These hillside lands are mainly owned by different authorities like the State/Central Government, BMC or the Maharashtra Housing Board.

Maharashtra Government has enacted the Maharashtra Slum (Improvement, Abolition and Rehabilitation) Act, 1971 under which slums in specified areas are notified as regularised slums and given protection. Since 1991, under the slum improvement programme, these slums are being improved by Slum Improvement Board, a unit of Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA). These slums are being provided with basic amenities. To avoid the damages due to landslides, a programme of constructing retaining wall is being carried out by the Slum Improvement Board

2.6 Road Accidents

The major road sections in Mumbai which are accident prone in Mumbai city along with details of fatal and serious injuries from 1993 to 1995 are given below :

The number of accidents from 1990-96 and the deaths resulting from these accidents are given below :

Traffic density is highest at the following locations :

· Nariman Point
· Flora Fountain
· CST
· Nana Chowk
· Haji Ali
· Mahim-Bandra junction
· Andheri Flyover
· Crawfford Market
· J.J junction
· Dadar T.T
· Sion junction

2.7 Industrial and Chemical Accidents

There are approximately 900 industries either involved in the manufacture and processing of hazardous goods or in the storage of hazardous goods. A comprehensive list of these industries along with fact sheets are given in a separate volume. Many of these godowns are in the close proximity of the residential areas or other storages, thereby increasing the risk of fires and chemical explosions in residential as well as industrial estates.

The major concentration of the hazardous industries is seen in the Chembur-Trombay belt, spread over an area of about 10 square kilometres, having major chemical complexes, refineries, fertiliser plants, atomic energy establishment and thermal power station. Clustering of various operating units make them highly vulnerable.

BARC, HPCL, BPCL, RCF, Tata Thermal Generating Station and Oswal Petrochemicals are some of the hazardous industries operating in this belt. This area is also in close proximity to the port activities of Mumbai Port Trust which handles hazardous cargo. MPT has identified 32 hazardous chemicals which are loaded and unloaded requiring handling and storage. The list of these chemicals along with the handling capability and necessary actions required to be taken in case of emergency is given in the volume on “Hazardous industries including fact sheets”. MPT also has its independent fire service and a disaster management plan.

The atomic energy establishment, with its residential colonies, has taken adequate measures to reduce the risk. It also has a comprehensive on-site hazard management plan with necessary know-how and equipments. However, due to its close proximity with hazardous industries, namely the refineries, a close on-going co-ordination of these units and BARC is required, so as to restrict any potential damage.

The mutual aid schme in this area encompasses over 15 industrial units. The combined resources of these industries provide a highly enhanced degree of insurance to minimise loss by fire/emergency.

HPCL, BPCL, RCF and Tata Thermal Generating Station, all have their on-site plans, with manpower and equipment. Industries in the Chembur-Trombay region, though handling flammable and toxic liquids and gases, are equipped to take care of minor to moderate emergencies The settlements, which are in the vicinity of the units increase the risk and require off-site disaster management activities. None of these organisations have the capacity to manage an off-site impact of the emergencies. Therefore, the nature of emergency that can develop may require re-inforcement from Mumbai Fire Brigade and municipal authorities. The detailed fact sheets of these industries in given in the volume on “Hazardous industries including fact sheets”.

These fact sheets highlight the specific threat of the hazardous chemicals in terms of the physical consequences and the resources available with these industries to tackle the emergencies. The fact sheet identifies the individual responsible for co-ordinating the activities with other organisations. In view of the fact that the ward officer is responsible for co-ordinating disaster response at the ward level, it may be necessary that these units establish a direct contact with the ward officer in all emergency situations, even when on-site emergencies occur, and keep him posted with the status of the emergency. This will improve the co-ordination and allow for timely reinforcement from fire brigade and at the same time provide standby arrangements, if off-site operations are required.

In addition, piped natural gas supply to households has started in some suburban areas and is intended to cover most of the suburbs. In view of this, the risk of fires due to leakage of gas is an added dimension.

Also, some of the industries are receiving crude oil through underground pipelines. These include, NOCIL, HPCL, BPCL and Patalganga. There have been incidents of underground leakages and also fires. Monitoring of these pipelines particularly when these are passing through areas adjoining residential and slum settlements in the city is currently done through monitoring points. These pipelines therefore pose a risk.

2.8 Cyclones

Being an island city, the coastal wards (facing the Arabian Sea) are prone to gusty winds and cyclonic impacts. Originally, most of the fishing villages were located along the coast. These include Machimar Nagar in Colaba, Worli village, Mahim village, etc. Additionally, in most of these wards, a number of slums have also mushroomed along the coast. Given the quality of housing material used, these settlements are highly vulnerable and the possibility of their capacity to withstand the cyclonic storm is limited. A ward wise list of such settlements and dilapidated buildings prone to cyclonic impact are given below and have also been identified in each ward plan. These areas may require evacuation to temporary shelters or identified safe sites.

3. MITIGATION STRATEGY

The assessment of extent of vulnerability of the area, people and property to a hazard or the probability of its occurrence has been undertaken in the earlier chapters on Vulnerability analysis and risk assessment. These are essential forerunners for evolving appropriate preventive measures and mitigation strategies.

The analysis shows that various locations in Mumbai are vulnerable to different disasters in varied degrees. Preparedness and mitigation plans, therefore, will have to be evolved and implementation monitored locally at the ward level to reduce the impact of the disasters. While evolving such area specific preparedness and mitigation plans, types of vulnerabilities will essentially define the levels of preparedness and mitigation strategies. These strategies will have to be concentrated more towards the social and economically backward communities, as against the vulnerability of the overall system.

While devising the mitigation strategy it is necessary to differentiate between disaster preparedness and disaster mitigation.

3.1 Disaster Preparedness

Preparedness focuses on plans to respond to a disaster threat or occurrence. It takes into account an estimation of emergency needs and identifies the resources to meet these needs. It also involves preparation of well-designed plans to structure the entire post-disaster response, and familiarising the stakeholders, particularly the communities through training and simulation exercises.

The best examples of preparedness activities are the development of local warning and community evacuation plans through community education, evolving local response structures and administrative preparedness by way of stockpiling of supplies; developing emergency plans for rescue and relief.

3.2 Disaster Mitigation

Pre-disaster planning consists of activities such as disaster mitigation and disaster preparedness. Disaster mitigation focuses on the hazard that causes the disaster and tries to eliminate or drastically reduce its direct effects. Examples include strengthening buildings to make them cyclone or earthquake resistant, controlling land-use patterns to restrict development in high-risk areas and diversification of economic activities to act as insurance to offset losses in different sectors.

Structural measures such as the construction of protective works or alterations designed to diminish the vulnerability of the elements at risk, and non-structural measures, such as regulating land use and building codes, and equipping line departments for damage reduction, can all reduce the impact of a disaster on a region or a population. Everything that is done to reduce or prevent the damages that a disaster may cause is called “mitigation of risks.” Such mitigation measures can be integrated with normal inter-departmental coordination.

Mitigation distinguishes actions that have a long-term impact from those that are more closely associated with preparedness for, immediate response to, and short-term recovery from a specific disaster, recognizing that the boundaries are not absolute. Mitigation efforts must not only be a priority for the repair, reconstruction, and rehabilitation of developed areas, but must become a prerequisite for growth in areas that have not been developed.

3.3 Goals of Mitigation Strategy

· To substantially increase public awareness of disaster risk so that the public demands safer communities in which to live and work; and

· To significantly reduce the risks of loss of life, injuries, economic costs, and destruction of natural and cultural resources that result from disasters

4. MITIGATION MEASURES FOR GREATER MUMBAI

In view of the risk and the vulnerabilities identified in the earlier sections, the mitigation measures proposed have been categorised into three major headings :

· Infrastructure improvement
· Communication and Public Information Systems
· Land use policies and planning

Based on these, additional requirements for the line agencies will have to be identified keeping in view their future growth requirements as well as specific demands put on them as a result of disaster management plan exercise. It is expected that special procurements and inputs will enhance the capabilities and the quality of service and rationalise efficient contributions of the limited manpower resources available with these agencies. The mitigation strategy also envisages the possibilities of upgrading the quality of human resources, through training, in the long run.

4.1 Infrastructure improvement

Infrastructure improvement for Greater Mumbai has been examined in terms of transport, services and housing infrastructures. These include road and rail networks, sanitation and sewer disposal system, storm water drainage systems, slum improvement and housing repairs and retrofitting programmes. The dependent lifelines of Mumbai which include water wupply, electric supply, telecom services, fuel, health, food supply etc, depend very much upon the effective functioning of these infrastructural facilities.

The overall mitigation strategy aimed at. vulnerability reduction should address issues with respect to institutional arrangements and implementing strategies for these infrastructural improvements. The current effort in detailing the MUTP-II and MURP is a relevant step in the direction of vulnerability reduction.

4.1.1 Transport infrastructure

The requirements of projected passenger traffic, rise in vehicular density, and the increase in number of vehicles, both private and public, will put tremendous pressure on the existing transport infrastructure and road network.

For reduction of road accidents, reducing disruptions resulting from floods and increasing the response time of the emergency services, a comprehensive mitigation strategy to improve the transport infrastructure becomes imperative.

However, in the present context, any substantive increase in the infrastructure capabilities would necessitate a large component of resettlement for which an appropriate policy and participatory strategy will have to be worked out. As of now, the Government of Maharashtra, based on the recommendations of the “Task Force on Policy Framework, Institutional Arrangements and Implementation Strategy for BUTP - II, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Project, July 1995” has been in a position to come out with a clear statement on urban R&R policy.

4.1.1.1 Expansion of rail services

The proposals of additional railway corridors, that is, the Sixth Corridor and the Seventh Corridor, need to be reviewed and refined further for implementation.

Additionally, proposed commuter lines in MMR region need to be expedited. Successful implementation of MUTP-II and subsequent phases therefore is essential. The list of priority projects proposed under MUTP-II is given below :