Lost in reclamation

A STATE government study has blamed unscientific and haphazard land reclamation for ecological damage and perennial floods in Mumbai. The city has a 300-year history of land reclamations—prior to independence, over 35 sq km of land was reclaimed by the colonial administration to link the erstwhile seven islands of Worli, Parel, Mahim, Mazagaon, Bombay, Little Colaba and Colaba.

Khap panchayat bans paddy

Wetlands in danger

Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link on hold

The country’s largest sea link, the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link, has hit a roadblock after the National Green Tribunal restrained the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) from beginning construction work on the project on the basis of an environmental clearance obtained seven years ago. However, it has allowed the authority to go ahead with the bidding process for the 22-km-long sea link project.

Kerala court allows law violation

IN A judgement that could seriously affect conservation of paddy land and wetland, the Kerala High Court has allowed the common people to violate an Act that some influential people freely violate.

Concrete invasion

Sri Lanka’s largest city was once dotted with freshwater marshes. The picturesque beauty of the wetland areas, say elders, was breathtaking. Not any more. The marshes have been filled to construct buildings. The remaining ones are highly polluted and taken over with invasive plant species.

Mumbai sea link extension may be junked in favour of a coastal road

The proposed extension to existing Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai—the Worli-Haji Ali Sea Link—may be abandoned in favour of another expensive road project. The government of Maharashtra has accepted the proposal for a coastal toll road connecting Nariman Point and Malad along the the western coast of the city.

Mumbai’s second sea link unlikely

MUMBAIKARS won’t see any more sea links, at least for now. After the successful run of the five-kilometre road over the sea, linking Bandra to Worli in South Mumbai, the Maharashtra government was planning its extension to Haji Ali via another sea link. But now that plan has been shelved. Instead, a 3.7 km coastal road will be built.

The great wetland grab

Guwahati, the sprawling million plus city of north eastern India has grown at the cost of vital wetlands. While the rich legally bought the water-bodies, the poor ‘illegally’ encroached on them. With major storm water basins in the city disappearing, every monsoon, Guwahati reels under flashfloods. The June 22 police firing on poor settlers was but a flashpoint: the mess is visibly deeper.

Who messed it up?

The overpowering stench of municipal waste hits one hard on entering Boragaon. Women and children from the nearby squatter’s colony squabble over the garbage unloaded by trucks from Guwahati, the sprawling business hub of northeastern India and a million-plus city of Assam. A sole adjutant stork, an endangered bird, meditates on the high rise of waste before being chased away by a dog.