FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

SECTION A

The main findings of the present study in the first section are related to the air quality over

different locations in Greater Mumbai region and the vehicular growth taking place in the three

transport zones of MCGM.

The findings of the study undertaken are discussed below:-

For almost all the years taken into consideration for the ambient air quality at select locations in

different parts of Mumbai, some striking features were observed.

1. a) Annual average concentration values of SO2 were found to be within limits for all

sites, though marginally higher values were observed at Bhandup, Maravali, Andheri and

Khar.

With respect to annual average NO2 levels, it was found that in Worli the NO2 level

exceeded the CPCB limit once during the year 2008-09, and after that continued to drop

until 2011.

In general, it can be seen that the average annual concentration values of NO2 levels have

been found to be increasing and have exceeded the CPCB standards since the year 2003-

2004 for all sites, except Borivali.

b) SPM level was found to have exceeded the CPCB standards at all the sites. Maravali

and Khar sites are found to be heavily polluted.Maravali site which already indicated the

highest SPM value in the year 1999-2001, showed a significant increase in the

consequent years.In the year 2010-11, Maravali possessed SPM values which were

almost six times that of Borivali and thrice that of the other monitoring stations.

Maravali, an industrial zone lies in the Eastern suburb is located close to Chembur. The

fact that it is an industrial area and is also located in the vicinity of Chembur, which itself

is home to some of Mumbai’s most environmentally hazardous factories and industrial

plants, is proof enough for its status as the most polluted area for almost more than a

decade. The presence of the sprawling Chembur - Dharavi slum area, with its various

small manufacturing units and the prevailing unhygienic conditions because of the piling

heaps of garbage, and open-burning is also another important factor responsible for the

high pollutant load experienced in Maravali.

Andheri and Tilaknagar generally have some of the worst traffic bottlenecks in the city

and therefore possess highest levels of NOx and SPM values.Here it should be also noted

that Andheri possesses maximum population distribution in the study region.

2. a) The RSPM values were obtained from the NEERI office, Mumbai for select years with

respect to Parel, Worli and Kalbadevi. The Khar Monitoring Laboratory has only recently

begun monitoring RSPM values for the monitoring stations and therefore RSPM related

data was unavailable for the remaining sites. For all the three sites it was observed that

the values dropped during the year 2004, remained almost constant for the next two years

and then again rose during the year 2009, after which it again declined during the year

2010.

This sudden spurt during the year 2009 and the sudden decline during the year 2010

appeared to be a perplexing finding. The rise can be attributed to population growth,

various other human activities, apart from the increasing vehicular population, but the

sudden decline by almost 50% is difficult to justify. Though, some kind of error cannot

be overlooked.

b) The three monitoring sites chosen by NEERI represented one industrial activity zone,

Parel, a commercial activities zone, Kalbadevi and a residential activity zone, Worli.

Though the zones have been classified as commercial, residential and industrial, it is

common knowledge that in Mumbai city one does not find any region which is purely

and solely based on a single land-use pattern. Places such as Parel which were earlier

basically industrial in nature, have transformed into an overlap of commercial as well as

residential area.

Similarly, Kalbadevi and Worli which are selected as commercial and residential zones

respectively again face a similar problem as both places do not conform entirely to the

assigned zone. The evolution of the urbanization process in Mumbai has been such that

residential as well as commercial zones overlap. Though the selected sites in the study

region with respect to the activity zone have been specified for convenience purpose,

each zone will always have mixed activities.

The average values of Particulate Matter exceeded the CPCB standards in commercial

and residential areas while SO2 and NO2 concentrations were within the CPCB limits.

The levels of pollutants in residential, commercial and industrial zones were more or less

the same.

A discussion with the scientists at the NEERI centre also revealed that the assigned

zones of industrial, commercial and residential regions in Mumbai cannot be strictly

allotted the specified National Ambient Air Quality Standards put forth by the CPCB due

to the overlapping of various land-uses.

c) The percentage of violation of NAAQS (24 hourly average) for RSPM as well as SPM

for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 at the industrial site of Parel depicted much lower

values as compared to the other two sites, of Kalbadevi and Worli assigned as residential

sites. Personal observations have led to conclude that loading, unloading and transfer of

textiles (kalbadevi also serves as a wholesale market for various goods such as textiles,

etc.) and other materials in the busy lanes of Kalbadevi and the Crawford market in close

vicinity, which remains crowded with shops, hawkers and customers throughout the day

may be an important factor for the higher RSPM and SPM levels consequently leading to

violation of the NAAQS for RSPM and SPM.

The violation of NAAQS with respect to SO2 and NO2 revealed that both these

parameters were well within the standards specified by the CPCB and that the violation

was insignificant at all three monitoring sites of Worli, Parel and Kalbadevi. The main

reasons for this situation could be because of shifting of most of the industries from

Mumbai region that began in the early 90s itself. Another reason could also be that

population density being high atKalbadevi contributes to the increasing emission load of

RSPM and SPM.

Kalbadevi, which as earlier mentioned is the focal region where most of the commercial

activities take place, especially the wholesale market for textiles, electronic goods, etc.

The residential area at Kalbadevi is easily over-shadowed by the existing trading units in

the lanes and by-lanes of Kalbadevi that are perpetually crowded and congested. Road

dust arising due to loading and unloading of goods on the streets, apart from the vehicular

exhaust in this region is probably an important source of Suspended Particulate Matter as

well as Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter.

The residential siteWorli, too shows almost equally high levels of both RSPM as well as

SPM. Here too, it may be noted that though Worli is not an industrial area, the causes of

high levels of RSPM as well as SPM may be attributed to the open eateries, bakeries,

open refuse burning, construction activities, road dust as well as vehicular exhaust arising

out of the constant and sluggish moving vehicles. The construction work of the Bandra –

Worli Sea Link that was going on for some time can also be considered as a reason for

the high levels of Particulate Matter.

The reason for reduction of NO2 levels may be attributed to improvement in

infrastructure such as concretization and widening of roads, flyovers, subways, control

and synchronization of traffic signals, improvement in traffic movement to some extent

that leads to reduction in idling of vehicles, strict implementation of PUC (Pollution

under Check) norms for vehicles and use of ultra-modern technology in new vehicles

may have led to reduction in auto-exhaust gases emissions. (ESR BMC, 1999-2000)

d) The CPCB as well as MPCB have reported a decline in emission load with respect to

both these parameters mainly due to shifting out of the previously existing industries.

Though Chembur and nearby areas in the Eastern Suburbs still have some of the polluting

industries such as the Chemical and Fertilizer industries, etc, the immediate effect of the

pollutant load is to some extent offset by the Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM)

initiatives adopted especially by the RCF industries; as well as by the absorption

scrubbers utilized by the other industries in the vicinity, inorder to curb air pollution.

3. a) Levels of the various criteria air pollutants are generally found to be low during

summer and monsoons and high during winter and post monsoon seasons. The

phenomena of seasonal fluctuation is attributed to meteorological conditions, such as

predominant wind directions, turbulence and frequency of inversion, rains, etc. this has

multiple effects, dispersion of pollutants is rapid due to high turbulence and washing

down of pollutants due to rains. On the other hand accumulation of air pollutants occurs

due to frequency of inversion and stable conditions in the winter. (ESR Report, BMC

2008)

The configuration of Mumbai is such that industries are located in the north/north-eastern

part. The predominant wind direction is south/south-west during monsoons and

north/north-east in winter. Stable atmospheric condition and predominant wind direction

during winters cause high pollution levels in Mumbai.

b) Another very important factor that influences the air turbulence and thus the air quality

is the coastal location of Mumbai. The land and sea breezes have a profound impact on

the concentration levels of the various air pollutants at different locations at different

times of the year. The impact can be understood in the light of observations made in the

comparative study of number of vehicles on road in Mumbai and in Delhi. Delhi with

slightly fewer vehicles-on-road, experiences a higher concentration level of air pollutants

largely due to its geographical location.

4. a) The major sources of pollution in Mumbai can be categorized as industrial, transport

and domestic. It is observed that total emission load decreased marginally as compared to

the previous year. There is a decrease that is observed in the emission load of transport

sector. However, increase in the number of vehicles on the road results in traffic

bottlenecks at several places ultimately results in increase in emission load.

In this context it may be pointed out that a study undertaken by URBAIR (1991) had

reported a 50% increase in annual average concentration of Total Suspended Particulate

(TSP) from 180µg/m3 to 270 µg/m3 between the years 1981 to 1990. During the same

period concentration of Nitrogen oxides had increased by 25%, while there had been a

visible reduction in the annual average concentration levels of SO2. It should be noted

here that the Environment Status Report of Brihan-Mumbai (1999-2000) had stated in its

findings that that TSP sources are mainly re-suspension from road caused by vehicles,

emissions from diesel and gasoline vehicles, domestic wood and refuse-burning. With

burning of firewood out of question in Mumbai city, the only sources of Total Suspended

Matter seem to be vehicular exhaust, roadside re-suspension and open refuse burning.

5. Since 1991, Mumbai has seen a negative growth in industrial development. The city has

more concentration of commercial and other tertiary activities. This indicates that apart

from other area sources such as hotels, bakeries, open eateries, crematoria, etc that are

responsible, the transport network, plays a major role in the decline in quality of air in

Mumbai, with an ever-increasing number of commuters who travel from the suburbs to

the island city. Incidentally, Kalbadevi, the old CBD lies in South Mumbai, that is in the

island city. The historical CBD that is the Fort Region as well as the modern corporate

CBD, Nariman Point too, lies in southern part of the island city. Though, the new

BandraKurla Complex is an upcoming focal point in Mumbai, the commuters travelling

to south Mumbai and back is much higher as compared to the other destinations. This has

grossly increased the traffic congestion on this route. Consequently the vehicular traffic

and pollution both, on this sector are very high during peak hours.

6. In the past, the CPCB as well as NEERI in their respective findings have concluded that

the air quality decline seems to be more pertinent in the suburbs than in the island city.

This theory holds true, as it can be seen that the vehicular population growth rate is found

to be maximum in the Western Transport zone. This zone with places like Bandra,

wherein the overall population as well as the slum population is increasing. The Airport

and D.N.Nagar region too, along with the slum areas of Dharavi in the neighbourhood,

and the associated and combined impacts of various anthropogenic activities, including

the small manufacturing units, increasing traffic and the never-ending construction, other

commercial activities; andrepair works are serving as major factors in the multiplied

effect of rising air pollution in the respective area.

7. Though, as pointed out by CPCB the high load contribution does not necessarily lead to

high ambient contribution of a particular source at the receptor site since emission

distribution in atmosphere depends upon multitude of factors such as local meteorology,

location, season, height of release, atmospheric removal processes and diurnal variation.

Another very important and fortunate factor with respect to Mumbai is due to its peninsular

as well as coastal location. The ventilating effects due to its maritime location may prevent

the excessive pile-up of the polluting parameters over the city.

It may be noted that in this work the local impact of daily land and sea breezes are not taken

into consideration while analyzing the air quality findings. It can definitely be considered as

a base for further study.

8. The findings related to the vehicular growth and the emission load of the city are stated

below:

The percentage share of emission load in Mumbai for the period 2008 to 2010 revealed that

the petrol-run vehicles (53%) contributed the maximum share of pollutants, followed by

diesel-run vehicles (11%), industrial (4%), domestic (30%) and refuse burning (2%).

(MCGM, 2011)

a) The emission values of Particulate Matter due to vehicular exhaust are much higher than

what they are for the emissions from industrial sources. The Carbon Monoxide (CO)

emission values for the transport sector are almost half of what they are for the other area

sources. The SO2 emissions are dominated by the industrial sources. NOx values are also

lower as compared to with the industrial sources, but the rail transport accounts for a

major share of NOx emissions. Hydro-carbons (HC) are, again, an important source of air

pollution as far as the transport sector is concerned. In comparison to the industrial

sources of HC, the vehicular exhaust accounts for six times the values obtained for

industrial locations. Though, other sources such as bakeries, crematoria, restaurants, open

landfill burning, etc. account for major share of HC emissions.

b) From the NEERI report, 2010 also it can be inferred that unpaved road dust, too,

contributes in a major way to the release of Particulate Matter. Despite the state of

urbanization and the economic advancement of the metropolitan city, it may be noted that

the construction activity, repairs and maintenance works as well as dumping of Municipal

Solid Waste on the nooks and corners of the streets is an unending issue. The constant

repair and maintenance work of roads that goes on almost throughout the year is a major

factor that cannot be ignored.

This therefore implies that in the current scenario the cause for maximum emission of

Particulate Matter in the atmosphere with respect to Mumbai can be attributed to

transport sector as well as sources such as paved and unpaved road dust.As pointed out

by the Environment Status Report, Brihan-Mumbai (2010-11) the emission load of

Mumbai (2008-2011) indicated maximum contribution by Petrol-run vehicles (53%),

followed by diesel-run vehicles (11%), industrial (4%), domestic (30%) and refuse

burning (2%).

9. Data obtained from the Motor Transport Statistics (2009-10) revealed that the vehicular

population growth is constantly increasing. It was found that the Western Transport zone

of Mumbai consisting of Bandra, D.N.Nagar, Wakola, Airport, Saki Naka, Goregaon,

Malad, Kandivali and Borivali revealed a much higher rate of growth in vehicular

population as compared to the Eastern and Western Transport zone.Various studies have

pointed out that usage of diesel leads to a larger load of harmful pollutants being emitted

into the atmosphere. Therefore, an effort to explore the ownership of diesel-run vehicles

and the pollutant load over Mumbai was made.

10. It was found that the percentage of petrol run vehicles is much more substantial than that

compared to vehicles that run on diesel. It was seen that for all three years, i.e., 2008,

2010 and 2011, the percentage share of diesel and petrol-run vehicles have remained

almost the same, with diesel-run vehicles having a range between 18 to 20% of the total

number of vehicles; and the percentage share of petrol-run vehicles ranging between 73

to 82% in the three transport zones of the study region. Another finding was that most of

the diesel run vehicles were found to be present in the Western Transport zone.

From the data obtained from the NEERI report (2010) for the emission load for Mumbai

from all sources, it was noticed that among the area sources, the maximum share of the

pollutant load came from landfill open burning, followed by construction activities and

bakeries. Amongst the industrial sources, emissions from power plants take the maximum

share.

The transport and the road network which constitutes the line source of emissions

revealed that unpaved and paved road dust contributed significantly to the emission of

Particulate Matter. This was followed by Heavy Motor Vehicles (HMV) that contributes

to a major share of the pollutant load.

11. Another important finding from various studies is that vehicles using diesel as a fuel

contribute to a very high emission load of most of the parameters of pollutants. Diesel

cars emit 20 times more Particulate Matter, 7 times more SO2 and thrice the amount of

NOx than petrol-run cars.

Thus, Line Source of vehicles comprising of road transport turns out to be the main

contributor of Particulate Matter. The railways are significant contributors of Nitrogen

Dioxide in Mumbai.The air transport is an important causative factor releasing Carbon

Monoxide and Oxides of Nitrogen. Marine transport has a very negligible influence on

the pollutant load of the city.

While considering the vehicular growth for 1961-2011 it is evident that the growth

pattern is following an upward trend. The increase has become more prominent since

1991 after which the rate of growth in the vehicular population became more pronounced.

The Western Transport zone of Mumbai consisting of Bandra, D.N.Nagar, Wakola,

Airport, Saki Naka, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali and Borivali reveals a significantly

higher growth rate of registration of vehicles as compared to the other two zones. An

analysis of the percentage growth of vehicles reflected that the western as well as eastern

transport zones are experiencing a marginal decline, while the Central Transport zone

experienced a fluctuating trend.

12. An analysis of the percentage growth of vehicles in Greater Mumbai that used various

sources as fuel during the period 2008-2011, showed that the proportion of diesel

vehicles to the total have remained more or less the same, without any significant

increase or decrease. Though, the maximum share of diesel-run vehicles was found to be

present in the Western Transport zone. The analysis also reflected a slight drop in the

percentage growth of petrol-run vehicles and a corresponding marginal rise in the

proportion of CNG vehicles.

In this study an emphasis on the proportion of diesel-run vehicles is made as various

studies have pointed to increasingly harmful pollutants being emitted with diesel being

used as a fuel to run vehicles.

The meso-level (city and suburbs) analysis reflected that the Western Transport zone of

Mumbai showed a constant increase in the percentage growth of diesel run vehicles in all the

three years that are taken into consideration.

There is an increase in the year 2010 for the Central Transport zone as compared to the year

2008. But it is interesting to note that values for the year 2011 show a decline by about 2%. It

is seen that Central Transport zone which consists of Colaba, Kalbadevi, Tardeo, Pydhonie,

Wadala as well as Byculla, Worli, Bhoiwada and Nagpada constitute the regions (particularly

Worli and Kalbadevi) which according to the NEERI observations have a high emission load

of air pollutants; except forParel, which has a comparatively better level of air quality. Thus

the finding that Parel has lower values of the pollutant load could be attributed tothe decline

in the vehicular population in this zone apart from themajor decline in the industrial activity

since the mid-nineties, when the textile mills shut down and moved to neighbouring states,

especially Gujarat. Thus, all these facts including the finding that points to a decline in the

number of diesel run vehicles in the Central transport zone could be the reason for a

comparatively better air quality in the Parel region.

13. Lastly, the superimposition of the air quality findings for the air monitoring stations on

the three different transport zones indicates that:

a. Khar and Andheri, which are found to be highly polluted with respect to air quality,

lie in the western transport zone. At the same time it has been found that the total

vehicular population is found to be highest in the Western Transport zone followed

by the Central Transport Zone. It is interesting to note that Borivali which also lies in

the Western Transport Zone is the least polluted. The Borivali region encloses a

notified National Park, and therefore the population as well as number of vehicles is

very less as compared to other regions of Mumbai. The absence of industries and

presence of a large stretch of natural vegetation in Borivali also explains the

comparative purity of air in the region.

b. Kalbadevi and Worli lie in the Central transport zone. Kalbadevi and Worli have

higher values of SPM as well as RSPM, and coincidently also have the maximum

number of vehicles using diesel as fuel. Kalbadevi is one of the busiest areas of South

Mumbai. At the same time, Worli lies on the path which is traversed by the south as

well north-bound traffic. The road from Haji Ali towards Worliand back experiences

traffic blockades very often, thus having very sluggishly moving traffic which is also

responsible for adding vehicular exhaust to the region.

c. On the other hand the Eastern Transport region comprises of Maravali and Bhandup

air monitoring stations. The total number of vehicles registered in the Eastern region

is least as compared to the other two regions. But the air quality at Maravali is very

bad. For all the years for which the data was available and study undertaken, Maravali

has been found to be the most polluted of all the stations monitored for air quality.

Other factors that seem to influence the air quality at Maravali, are its proximity to

Chembur as well as to Deonar,the largest Municipal Solid Waste dumping ground.

Maravali as well as Chembur being industrial zones are host to a lot of

environmentally hazardous industries.

d. The presence of Deonar dumping ground in the vicinity is an important source of air

pollutants, as the process of dumping garbage, open landfill burning;etc causes an

added load of Particulate Matter. The Environment Status Report of Brihan-Mumbai

(1999-2000; 2010-11), too has revealed that air quality at Deonar dumping ground

exceeds the permissible limit as specified by the CPCB. The NOx and RSPM levels

at the Deonar Dumping Ground are about 140µg/m3 and 350 respectively (ESR

MCGM, 2010-11).

e. Another study has also pointed out that in the Chembur/ Maravali area, the main

problem is the uncontrolled release of ammonia and nitrous oxides from the Rashtriya

Chemical Fertiliser complex. Although ammonia is easy to scrub, the problem seems

to be due to improper operation of pollution control equipment and/or operation of

the urea/ammonia complex.

f. The existence of various industries in the region, and the Deonar Dumping ground in

the vicinity has made things worse for Chembur, which has also often been referred

to as a ‘Gas Chamber’ by environmentalists and researchers. As mentioned earlier,

Chembur is an area where a cluster of sensitive installations like oil refineries,

BARC, a fertilizer plant and naval ammunition depot are located. All this apart from

the traffic congestion experienced almost throughout the day in this area worsens

things, especially the quality of air in this region.

In this context it is worth noting the observation made by Sharma and Pundir (2008) that, with

the increase in economic activities the number of transport is increasing in restricted areas of

metropolitan cities. This increases the transport emission load of Indian cities. The introduction

of vehicles with stricter emission control may decrease the overall emissions, but the vehicle

population growth rate might neutralize that impact in overall emissions.

SECTION B

In this section an attempt is made to understand issues related to the problem of solid waste

management in Greater Mumbai. For this purpose, the population data has been taken into

account assuming that as population increases, there is an increase in the amount of solid waste

generated.

This enormous increase in solid waste causes excessive burden on the existing capacities of the

civic administration for the collection, transfer and disposal of all the solid waste, thus rendering

it ineffective. This study attempts to explore the spatial and temporal variations in generation of

solid waste in different geographical locations of Greater Mumbai, apart from trying to

understand issues related to the management of solid wastes.

1. According to the Solid Waste Management department of MCGM, the expenditure borne

by them for collection of waste and its disposal has been constantly increasing which

implies that since the waste generated is increasing every year, they have to enhance and

upgrade their facilities of providing effective waste management techniques.

Since in this study, the main causative aspect for the increase in generation of solid waste

is considered to be population growth in the study region, the observations with respect to

the growth of population for selected years point to a decreasing trend in the distribution

as well as the growth rate of population in the island city. The period between the years

1981-2011 reflects a major decline in the island city.

2. With respect to suburbs, the population distribution shows an upward trend but the

growth rate reveals a decline. In the suburbs too, the population growth during the period

2001-2011 shows an encouraging picture with a growth rate of 9% only, as compared to

the 26.7% for the previous decade. Thus, it implies that though the growth rates have

significantly declined in the suburbs, they still continue to remain high compared to the

island city, which experienced a growth rate of -5.75% only.

It was found that the population of the Island city of Greater Mumbai is relatively

stabilised. Thegross density of the Western and Eastern Suburbs has registered a three-

fold increase from 1971 to 2001, while thegross density of Greater Mumbai has doubled

during the same period (Census Data of India, 2011).

3. For the year 2011, only the total figures for the suburban region and the island city are

available. Ward-wise data is still not released by the Census Department; therefore the

ward level analysis for the year 2011 was not possible.

In the suburbs it is observed that the western suburbs (wards H, K, P & R) have more

population than that residing in eastern suburbs (wards L, M, N, S & T). Gross density of

Greater Mumbai is found to be 27,715 persons per sq. km. in 2001. With respect to the

island city, the highest density of 107,723 is found in 'C' ward. Maximum population is

found in K/E ward, i.e., Andheri East.

The provisional figures for the population density as published by the Census

Department, Government of India, point to a significant decline in the population density

for Mumbai city during the year 2011, in comparison to 2001. The density values for the

suburbs indicate a slight increase in the number of persons per square kilometre between

the years 2001 to 2011.

Thus, it should be noted that the population density is only marginally lesser than what it

is in the island city. This is implicative of the fact that the impact of population and

human activities on the local environment of the respective regions will be almost similar

all throughout the Greater Mumbai region.

4. The Percentage Decadal Variation in Population from 1901-2011 reveals aninteresting

picture. In the pre-independence era the Mumbai city as well as the suburban region

shows a marginal decrease initially until the year 1921.

During the 1920s which is generally considered a watershed period for the population

distribution in the entire country also shows its impact in the Greater Mumbai region,

when the population in the entire region experienced a drastic fall, but picked up

momentum during the following two decades. In the 1970s the tendency for a decline in

the growth of population in the city region and a corresponding increase in the suburban

region became a common feature until the present. This aspect has been referred to as an

era of ‘suburbanization’ by some researchers in contemporary studies. Though, it may be

seen that despite an increase in population growth in the suburbs in comparison to that of

the city region, the overall picture represents a gradual decline in the growth rate of the

suburban regions too.

5. It is for the first time in the demographic history of Greater Mumbai that the city

experienced a maximum negative decadal growth of population (-5.75%) during the past

decade. An encouraging scenario is also visible with respect to the suburban region,

wherein, the growth is represented by a single digit value of + 8.01% after a gap of nine

decades.

6. Findings of the study at ward level

Ward-wise population of Greater Mumbai for the years 1991 and 2001 is available but

the ward level data for 2011 is still not published by the Census Department of India.

Therefore ward level analysis for population was done for the years 1991 and 2001

only.Looking at the figures for the years 1991 and 2001 it is seen that the same wards

have experienced maximum population distribution in both the years. In the island city, F

and G wards (constituting Matunga, Dadar and Elphinstone) continue to have maximum

population concentration in the island city.

On the other hand, in the western suburbs, K/E, K/W and P/N (constituting Andheri East

as well as West; and Malad) population was higher in comparison to the other wards of

the western suburbs in the years, 1991 as well as 2001.

In the Eastern suburbs Kurla and Bhandup (L and S Wards) follow a similar pattern,

wherein both these wards continue to be the most populated in 1991 as well as 2001.

7. The overall trend for the amount of solid waste generated, if considered from the year

1966-67 up to the year 2011-12, shows a more than four-fold increase. For the

corresponding time-frame, the population growth indicates a three-fold increase.

A comparison of the decadal growth of Solid Waste and that of Population, for the period

1961 to 2011 was arrived at and the picture that arises is interesting to note. It can be seen

that the decadal growth of population seems to be on a constant decline. At the same

time, the decadal growth of solid waste too is constantly decreasing, though the amount is

still quite substantial.

There is a more than three-fold increase in the quantity of solid waste generated in

Greater Mumbai region between the period 1971 and 2011 but the decadal growth reveals

an increase from about 3% in 1971 to 41% in 2011. During the same time-frame,

population has doubled, but the decadal growth of population dropped from 43.8% in

1971 to 4.4% in 2011.

During the year 2001, a negative growth in the percentage of decadal growth was

observed which seems out of place and difficult to analyze. There does not seem any

valid justification for the sudden drop by 65% and then followed by a sudden spurt of a

55% increase in the year 2011. In all probability there could be some error in the values

obtained from the SWM Cell of MCGM for the year 2001.

8. A very important observation in this aspect is that the rate of growth of solid wastes does

not seem to be directly influenced by the population growth. The decadal growth of

population indicates a significant decline. On the other hand the decadal growth of solid

waste in parts of Mumbai reveals a considerable increase. Thus it can be deduced that it

is not only the population factor that is responsible for the problem of increasing amount

of garbage in the city but other influencing factors such as the land use pattern and

employment scenario in different geographical locations in the city and suburbs could be

playing a dominant role too.

Thus, data for employment at a ward level in Greater Mumbai was obtained from the

Chief Planning Division of MMRDA. The employment data at a ward level was available

only for the years 1990 and 1998. Therefore the available data is considered for getting a

basic representative idea about the employment profile of Greater Mumbai, so that it can

reflect the daily floating population which could be an important contributor to the

existence of the growth in solid waste in the city.The data thus obtained sheds light on the

employment profile of Mumbai at ward level.

9. It can be seen that percentage growth rate in employment for the island city is highest.

Ward A experienced almost six times the increase in the growth rate for employment as

compared to the overall growth rate for Greater Mumbai. For the corresponding period a

major decline in the percentage growth rate of employment was seen in case of the

Eastern suburbs.The overall picture indicates a predominant increase in employment

level in the island city followed by a marginal increase in the western suburbs and a

decline in the eastern suburbs. This indicates that a major flow of population could be

headed towards the island city and the rest towards the western suburbs.

10. The 1991-92 figures for the quantity of solid waste generated annually reveal that the city

as well as western suburbs has almost the same amount of solid waste generated; while

the eastern suburban region generates only 25% of the waste in comparison to the other

two administrative divisions.

In the year 2011-12 too, it is clearly evident that the quantity of solid waste generated

continues to remain significantly high in both the island city as well as in the western

suburbs. Moreover both these regions contribute to an almost equal amount of solid

waste. On the other hand it was observed that the share of the total amount of solid waste

during the same period in the Eastern suburbs has been fast increasing. The figures for

the solid waste generated in the Eastern suburbs doubled in the year 2011-12 in

comparison to that during 1991-92.

The amount of solid waste generated in the city has generally increased overtime ( Table ) and at

present it is nearly four times (confirm) as much as in the mid-sixties. However, there was a

decrease between 1974 and 1976, between 1981-1985; and between 1991and 2001. All these

sudden drops are difficult to comprehend and hence, if one assumes that data may be incomplete

or faulty and smoothens the curve, one finds a steady increase over time (figure ). This is to be

expected in the light of the increase of population and concentration of activities. However, when

compared to the rate of growth of population the amount of solid waste generated has increased

more rapidly after 1978.

The concentration index for the city region grew from 1.4 to 1.6 from 1991 to 2011. The values

for the concentration index of solid waste are indicative of the fact that the increasing amount of

solid waste cannot be attributed to population growth alone. Since the generation of solid waste

is the result also of concentration of activities; an attempt is made to get an insight into spatial

variations in this aspect. The areas of concentration of activities are indicated by the employment

profile in different wards. Thus, the employment profile at a ward level was also considered.

Discussions of Ward level analysis of solid waste generation vis-à-vis employment profile

The employment scene in the island city shows maximum growth rate of employment in A- ward

followed by D- ward, it being 5.7% and 2.03% respectively. The spatial variation for the

corresponding wards with respect to percentage of total quantity of solid waste generated is

about 4.2% and 4.7% for A and D ward respectively. The A- ward comprises Colaba and D-

ward corresponds to Grant Road.

Colaba, lying at the southern extreme of the island city is more of a commercial region, known

for its cafes, restaurants and retail showrooms and footpath shops, and has also become the

cultural hub of the city, especially for South Mumbai. It is also known for its shopping area,

clubbed with administrative offices, with quite a few schools, colleges, national galleries and

museums, other places of tourist attraction in the form of heritage buildings and monuments; and

basically extends towards the naval command region.

All these factors have contributed to a higher employment growth rate in this ward, though the

population growth rate in this ward is much lesser as compared to the other wards such a D, E, F

and G wards of the island city. The reason for less amount of solid waste being generated in this

region could be due to people’s awareness to segregate waste before disposing it off and also

probably because of efficient cleaning process taken up by the BMC workers as it serves as an

important destination for national as well as foreign officials, dignitaries and tourists.

On the other hand, D ward (Grant Road) is dominated by various business and commercial

activities, small road-side eateries, apart from the existence of the local vegetable, fruit, fish and

meat market, which attracts a lot of local citizens. It remains generally crowded throughout the

year, and the rate of generation of municipal solid waste is probably much faster than the rate at

which the garbage is sorted out, collected and transported from this region. This could also be

due to the fact that the Grant Road streets remains congested through most of daytime until late

evening, thus making transportation of garbage by the large vehicles twice daily, a rather

difficult task, though the BMC has made it compulsory for the contractors to collect garbage

twice a day from all collection points.

In the Eastern suburbs, the data points to a higher population growth rate in M and L wards in

2001. M and L-wards correspond to Chembur and Kurla respectively. Chembur is followed by

Kurla in terms of population in the year 2001. With respect to the employment growth rate in the

eastern suburbs, the M and L wards experienced a growth rate of 0.28% and -3.8% respectively.

In this scenario, the picture reveals that a slight drop is observed in the employment growth in

the eastern suburb, but the increasing population and the associated and existing land use pattern

are directly responsible for the increasing amount of garbage.

It is a known fact that Chembur houses many chemical and fertilizers plants, refineries and

reactors. Several other studies too have pointed out that Chembur has been facing pollution

problems and recently it was even ranked 46th in a list of the most polluted industrial clusters in

India. (Verma, 2009)

The proximity of the Deonar dumping ground, in close vicinity to Chembur has caused health

issues to people residing in Chembur. Thus, it can be said that Chembur has got a problem of

high generation of municipal solid waste not only due to the excessive population but also due to

the existence of a large number of environmentally-hazardous industries located in and around

Chembur. This finding is supported by various other studies which have pointed out that

Chembur also has found high levels of toxic chemicals in ground water. Effluents from the oil

refineries, fertilizer plants and reactor located in Chembur are also said to have polluted sea

water in Thane creek affected marine life.

On the other hand, the western suburbs experienced a marginal increase in the growth of

employment opportunities between the years from 1990 to 1998. The increase is very prominent

in the H and R- Ward. The H ward which constitutes Bandra, Khar and Santacruz; and the R

ward which constitutes regions of Kandivali, Dahisar and Borivali are apparently providing more

employment opportunities in the geographical area of the western suburbs. Bandra has become

the focal point of the commercial and business hub in the new CBD that Bandra - Kurla

Complex offers. The growth in the employment in the R ward can be attributed to the growing

population in the suburban region due to which a rise in the number of educational institutions,

shopping malls, banking and other financial institutions is being witnessed. The growth of these

places with respect to employment opportunities should also be seen in the context of them being

accessible due to the local train routes passing through these regions, apart from the growing

importance of Bandra as a new commercial hub; and near saturation of activities in the island

city. In addition to this the presence of the airport at Santacruz and the existing slum area of

Dharavi in close vicinity display high densities of population in the region on a regular basis. It is

pointed out once again that the generation of solid waste is very high in the over-populated and

congested slum areas which are not diligently attended to by the BMC workers for the purpose of

waste collection and transfer of garbage.Personal visit and observation in the slum area of

Dharavi helped draw this conclusion.

Another very important finding is with respect to the observation that can be made from the

spatial variation calculated for percentage of the annual generation of solid waste at ward level

for the years 1991-92 and 2011-12 indicate significantly higher amounts of generation for the H

and R wards in the Western suburbs. Therefore, it can be concluded that better employment

opportunities in the H and R wards can be directly responsible for the generation of large

quantities of solid wastes in these wards. An increase in the employment opportunities naturally

implies a higher standard of living and a high-end lifestyle for many people, who tend to become

more and more consumerist in their day to day approach. But since we have most people still

ignorant about civic sense and duties and more-so about the ill-effects of leaving a large carbon

footprint, apart from the inability of the civic authorities who are rendered inefficient in

managing the tremendous rate at which garbage is being generated. The inefficiency seems to

arise from the fact that the number of persons employed and vehicles involved for the process of

collection and disposal is lagging behind.

Another important reason is also the fact that though, according to the SWM Department of

MCGM, the vehicles used in collection and transportation of the garbage need to make two trips

per day on the same route, the traffic congestion on the Mumbai streets makes this task

impossible.

A recent article in the national daily Hindustan Times (1st November 2012) also revealed that the

contractors engaged in collecting garbage from various parts of the city have cited a shortage of

vehicles meant for garbage-collection.Even the Solid Waste Department of MCGM has

confessed that the dumping grounds of Mulund and Deonar have very clearly outlived their

lifespan and are proving insufficient for accommodating and handling the ever-increasing

amount of garbage. Another article in a National daily, Times of India, 21st October, 2012,

specified the observations made in an official report submitted by the Maharashtra Pollution

Control Board (MPCB) that the Kanjurmarg dumping ground did not follow the norms of the

Municipal Solid Wastes Rules, 2000. The report pointed out that the solid waste disposed at the

site was not segregated and machines used to segregate bio-degradable and non-biodegradable

waste were lying unused. The waste was also being dumped at the site without proper soil cover

(10 cms of soil) that helps contain the stench.

This reveals the inadequacy on the part of contractors to collect and dispose off the garbage in a

mandatory manner. Thus, despite appropriate government policies and available facilities, such

as bio reactors, composting facilities, etc., these are not being made use of to the fullest of their

capacity and at times even lie unused. According to another report submitted by the Maharashtra

Pollution Control Board, the contractors associated with the Solid Waste Department of

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai have cited several ‘constraints’ in the process of

collection of waste; while the most important reason cited is shortage of collection vehicles.

Thus, it can be concluded that increasing solid waste generation in different locations in Greater

Mumbai is not solely influenced by the resident population distribution, as can be seen in case of

the island city. The island city has shown a sharp decline of -05.75% in the decadal growth of

population growth. But the percentage of the total quantity of solid waste generated in the island

city was found to be almost 40% which is equivalent to the amount generated in the western

suburbs.

Though one geographical area has experienced negative population growth and the other has

continued to experience population growth, both areas continue to produce an equal amount of

solid waste. The reason for this appears to be the existence of most government offices and other

institutes located in south Mumbai, where people travel to work from their actual places of

domicile. This working population, apart from the domestic and international tourists;

government officials from within and outside the country are mostly found to be visiting South

Mumbai daily for work or leisure. This floating population could be the main reason for the

increasing share of wastes in the entire Greater Mumbai region.

Also, presently Bandra-Kurla Complex in the western suburbs has assumed importance as the

new CBD of Greater Mumbai caters to a vast category of working population. The eastern

suburb in which Chembur takes the lead in population growth as well as solid waste generation is

not a recent episode. The already existing industries in the Chembur- Maravali belt provide

employment to the residents and acts as a pull factor.

Another very important thing that cannot be overlooked is the fact that at present more

construction related work is underway in the eastern suburbs, which is a major source of

construction debris in the respective region. With land prices sky-rocketing in the southern

Mumbai region/ island city, the next option for the residents to build houses for residential

purpose is to own a piece of land in the suburbs where the land is still cheaper as compared to

that in the island city and even in the western suburbs.

Thus it can be seen that the population expansion that is taking place at the fringes of the city is

also responsible for the growing generation of solid waste in that region. On the other hand, the

higher share of the island city in the total garbage generated than its proportionate share in total

population is because the island city, being a major employment centre, gets a large proportion

of floating population in the day time. The existence of the large wholesale market at Crawford,

Kalbadevi and the adjoining lane of Mohammad Ali Road draws a lot of customers from within

and outside the city.Byculla and Grant Road, which are found to be generating maximum amount

of municipal solid waste are also located in close proximity to the old CBD of Fort and

Kalbadevi. At the same time, the C – ward (Marine Lines) has been found to possess highest

population density in the city region. All such factors justify and explain the amount of solid

waste generated in the city, which is equivalent to about 40% of the waste generated in the city

as a whole.

The findings of this study can be corroborated by comparing it to a study undertaken by

Mahadevia D. and Pharate B. (2005). According to Mahadevia and Pharate there is higher share

of the island city in the total garbage generated than its proportionate share in total population

because, the island city, being a major employment centre, gets a large proportion of floating

population, in the day time.

It should also be noted that the 2001 Census of India suggests that the total employment in

Mumbai is 44.64 lakhs, of which 41% are in secondary sector and 58% are in tertiary sector

(Govt. of Maharashtra, 2007). Most of the industries in Mumbai are located in eastern and north-

eastern corridor with a few in the western region. Therefore, there is no clear distinction between

residential, commercial and industrial zones for the city. Industrial areas are further being

converted into residential complexes, leading to a boom in construction activity, mainly in the

suburbs. For instance, most textile mills have closed down in recent years giving way to

residential and commercial complexes. The land use pattern in the city has undergone major

changes in recent years with the conversion of industrial areas into residential and commercial

complexes. (World Bank, 2005)

The findings of this study regarding the increasing amount of construction debris in the eastern

suburb corroborates the report of the Metropolitan City of Greater Mumbai (MCGM),

2004according to which there is a much higher generation of debris in the eastern suburbs

followed by the western suburbs and then in the island city. High rate of new constructions in the

suburbs, both eastern and western could be the cause for the high level of debris generation in

these areas. The reason for this is the comparatively cheaper land prices in the eastern suburb as

compared to those in the city and western suburban region.

Discussion regarding validation of the hypothesis

The findings of the present study considered in the context of the hypothesis put forth in Chapter

I indicate:

1. The study has partially validated the first hypothesis regarding air quality decline in

Mumbai due to vehicular exhaust. The maximum levels of the various parameters of air

pollution are found in Khar and Andheri, that lie in the western transport zone, and which

also has the maximum vehicular population in the entire region undertaken for the

purpose of study. The western suburbs also possess the maximum number of vehicles that

use diesel as fuel. Due to the absence of any major industries in this sector, the most

important cause of high emission can be attributed largely to the vehicular population.

The population data obtained also sheds light on the fact that Andheri has a larger

population which indicates a consequent increase in the anthropogenic activities.

The study is considered to have partially validated the first hypothesis asMaravaliwhich

is the most polluted region in the entire study area lies in the Eastern Transport zone. But

the vehicular population is least in this zone and therefore, the prevailing air quality in

this zone cannot be attributed to vehicular exhaust. The existence of various

environmentally- hazardous industries and factories; apart from the presence of the

largest dumping ground, Deonar in close vicinity actually seem to be responsible for the

worst scenario in the entire study area, with respect to air quality.

The central transport zone indicated a smaller percentage share of vehicle registrations as

compared to the western zone. But the air monitoring stations reveal high emission load

of RSPM and SPM in the central zone. From the data available for the three sites (Parel,

Kalbadevi and Worli),Kalbadeviand Worlihave significantly higher share of SPM and

RSPM respectively, whose percentages of violation clearly exceed the National Ambient

Air Quality Standards. (RSPM levels were available only for these three sites in the entire

Greater Mumbai region).

South Mumbai is basically a commercial and administrative centre. Kalbadevi as well as

Nariman Point are important converging points for local as well as foreign citizens. Apart

from this, the old CBD at Fort continues to remain an administrative and commercial

centre. A lot many offices are located in the south Mumbai region, which cater to large

number of visitors as well as employees. Besides, south Mumbai plays host to a lot of

domestic as well as foreign tourists because of the heritage buildings and other places of

tourist interest located in the region.

Thus, this zone receives a very large number of vehicles, tourists as well as the local

working population on a daily basis. This excessive floating population, along with the

increasing number of vehicles plying daily in the North- South and South-North East

directions, the existence of the local rail network (western, central and harbour line)

which has its starting point in south Mumbai and culminating point in the extreme points

of Eastern and Western suburbs (Vasai-Virar on the Western and Panvel on the eastern

line); in addition to other routine anthropogenic activities reflects the status of the quality

of air in this region. The absence of industries in this region could be the reason for SO2

levels being under control. Source of NO2 in the city has been found to be mainly due to

the rail network by a study undertaken by NEERI in 2010. The starting points and

headquarters for the Central and Western Lines are located in the island city, they being

ChhatrapatiShivaji Terminus and Churchgate respectively. This also explains the vast

number of commuters travelling to and fro from the city.

Moreover, the Eastern Transport zone which roughly coincides with the eastern suburbs

of Greater Mumbai, reveal a different picture. This zone has the least number of vehicles

in comparison to the other two zones, but still has the highest annual average

concentration levels of various almost all the parameters of air pollution. This implies

that only vehicles cannot be considered to be the only important source of air pollution.

It should be noted that open landfill burning of garbage, existence of environmentally

hazardous industries with ineffective or erroneous pollution control measures in place,

besides the other reasons such as construction and repair works that go on almost

throughout the year are a major cause of concern in this region. Various factors such as

traffic congestion in the Chembur area could also be an added reason for air pollution in

this region.

2. Researchers have highlighted the fact that levels of air pollution are increasing at an

alarming in cities as a result of increase in industrial activities and vehicular transport.

However, in Mumbai, levels of SO2 and NO2 emissions have apparently declined since

the early 1990’s, probably due to shifting out of most of the industries or because the

existing laws have to some extent been effective in curbing industrial pollution. However,

the significant increase in the annual average concentration levels SPM levels could be

due to anthropogenic as well as climatic factors. The anthropogenic causes are mainly

vehicular growth, usage of diesel as a fuel (which is considered by many researchers to

be emitting harmful pollutants), construction and infrastructural repair works, paved and

unpaved road dust, open landfill burning, road-side eateries, etc.

While on the other hand, the climatic factor that could be responsible for the significant

increase in the SPM levels especially in the winter months can partly be attributed to the

inversion of temperatures in winter, which prevents dispersal of SPM. The wind direction

in the winter months is North / North-easterly. And it should be noted that most of the

industries in Mumbai are located in the North and North Eastern Region. This could also

trigger the dispersion of the air pollutants towards the southern part of Mumbai, thus

worsening the minor health ailments of the citizens during the months November to

February.

There is no doubt that the seasonal and diurnal winds, due to the coastal location also

play a major influence in the dispersion of the pollutant load of emissions, thus impacting

the actual concentration values of the various parameters of air pollution at various

locations in the study region. This aspect has not been touched upon in this study but it

can be a good topic for future research.

3. The second hypothesis that the increasing amount of solid wastes is mainly due to

increase in population and unplanned process of urbanization also does not hold true in

its entirety.

The overall trend for the amount of solid waste generated, if considered from the year

1966-67 up to the year 2011-12, shows a more than four-fold increase, for a

corresponding threefold increase in population Thus the rate of growth of solid wastes

does not seem to be directly influenced only by population growth.

The values for the concentration index of solid waste are indicative of the fact that the

increasing amount of solid waste cannot be attributed to population growth alone. The

generation of solid waste is not only the result of increasing population density but also

of concentration of activities. In the eastern suburbs too, the population and the existing

land use pattern seem to be directly responsible for the increasing amount of garbage.

4. In addition to air pollution, the other main problem faced in urban areas of the country is

land pollution by way of solid waste generation. This aspect too, has attracted great

attention. Generally the solid waste generation is on the rise in urban areas of the country

in the wake of increasing economic activities and a consumeristic lifestyle. Here it must

be noted that the official figures regarding generation of solid waste are probable

underestimation as a large proportion of population lives in slums, which are

inadequately served in terms of collection facilities. A few are recognized slums to which

municipal services and amenities have been extended; however, waste that is generated

from a number of squatter settlements goes unnoticed and unrecorded by MCGM. The

total burden of waste collection and disposal is probably far greater than that indicated by

the data. The MCGM too has not been able to enforce the MSW Rules 2000.

Although it is mandatory to segregate waste at the household level, this aspect is

neglected by a majority of housing societies. Besides this, since the wards of the city are

as big as any Class I city, the ward offices have very large responsibilities. People are

totally depended upon the civic authorities for cleanliness of their locality and the

citizen’s participation in the process is hardly there. The positive part of this issue is that

quite a few NGOs, along with the MCGM have taken up certain new initiatives in order

to control the waste management problem. Three new initiatives are (i) The Advance

Locality Management (ALM), (ii) the Slum Adoption Programme (SAS) and (iii) the

ParisarVikas Programme by the StreeMuktiSanghatna.

5. An innovative approach in the management is the city’s initiative to RRR, i.e., Reduce,

Reuse and Recycle. Waste is segregated at the source and recyclables are removed at the

source itself to be taken away by rag-pickers, which gives the rag pickers some income.

This has considerably reduced the burden of primary collection, transportation and

disposal of waste which in turn has reduced the MCGM’s expense on the waste disposal

process (Jain 2000). Thus while the doorstep collection has added to the collection cost, it

has been counter balanced by reduction in total waste quantity.

6. In a study of New Practices of Waste Management in Mumbai, Mahadevia (2005) too,

has also pointed out that the experience from Mumbai shows that the city has a long way

to go in Solid Waste Management, despite various initiatives taken up by MCGM in

collaboration with local NGOs. The size of the city is very large and the scale of the new

initiatives does not match of with the size of the city. The heavy downpour and chaotic

situation of July 26, 2005 has shown that the garbage collection has still a long way to go

so that it does not clog the city drains in times of heavy rains and cause of the city areas.

Various health ailments such as malaria, dengue, bronchitis, asthma, etc. have become a

common scene in the city.

Strict enforcement of the MSW Rules, citizen’s adherence to follow rules, better civic sense,

appointment of efficient and trained personnel to work in the process of garbage collection

and disposal, more involvement on the part of NGOs as well as the corporate sector in SWM,

finding appropriate sites for locating new dumping grounds, improved technology for

disposal of garbage, effective public private partnership, etc. can to a large extent impact the

process of Solid Waste Management in a positive manner.

SUMMARY

Introduction

Mumbai, originally an aggregation of seven islands was joined together over a period of about

five centuries by a constant process of reclamation. The transformation of a group of seven small

islands off the shore of coastal Maharashtra into one of the most crowded metropolitan city of

island has been through a lot of major and minor changes.

Greater Mumbai (or Brihan Mumbai), the study area for this work has an area of 437.71 sq km

and includes both the island city and suburbs. The islands are in the form of a peninsula with

Kalbadevi, the former Central Business District (CBD) at the southern extremity. The new CBD,

the Bandra- Kurla complex is at the centre of the city, just north of the Mahim creek on the land

developed through reclamation by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority

(MMRDA).

The most worrisome aspect of the transformation of the Mumbai region into the country’s most

important economic centre of the country is the current set of irreversible modification it has

undergone due to the various changes that the city has experienced in terms of population

increase, landuse pattern, reclamation process etc. The ever-increasing population due to in-

migration of skilled as well un-skilled manpower from within and outside the state of

Maharashtra has added to the already existing woes of the city.

The environmental stress is increasing as population increases and more people are competing

for the limited resources. This is clearly manifested in the expanse of the slums in Mumbai as

well in the heaps of garbage lying across the city waiting to be collected by the civic authorities

and to be disposed off in a manner which keeps the ecological balance maintained.

Another very important aspect that is responsible for disrupting the ecological balance is the

increasing number of vehicles that are added to Mumbai streets everyday as well as the necessity

of development of infrastructural amenities to cater to the increasing number of vehicles. The

only highways that exist in Mumbai are the Eastern and the Western Highways that run

North/South along the Eastern and Western coasts of the island. The city’s transport system was

modelled after the London Transportation System with the exception of the Underground Metro.

The lack of subway system in Mumbai has been severely detrimental to its transportation-related

problems faced by the city on a daily basis.

Environmental problems such as pollution of land, water, air and noise have increased

considerably. This is a consequence of population explosion, industrialization, urbanization, fast-

changing lifestyle and living patterns, food habits and the culture of over-consumerism, which

has given rise to disposable patterns of solid waste.

Urban waste poses a major problem which the city is unable to cope. According to the Solid

Waste Management Department of the metropolitan city of Greater Mumbai, the amount of

waste generated in the city is approximately 8000 MT per day.

The urban air quality has also declined due to the vehicular emissions, construction activity and

other pollutants which contribute to the total suspended particulate matter (TSPM). The levels of

SO2 in the city are well within the limit but the level of NOxare marginally high and increasing

probably due to the continuous increase in the number of vehicles in the city streets. The SPM

levels are exceeding all over the city and need to be curbed drastically.

The reclamation process had a very damaging impact not only on the mangroves in Mumbai but

on the overall modification of landscape of the coastal city. According to a study, between 1995

and 2000, approximately 45% of mangroves were destroyed as a result of unchecked dumping

and illegal reclamation.

All these issues apart from those related to tourism, unplanned urbanization, migration,

industrialization, growth of slum areas, depletion and degradation of available resources,

diseases, etc turn out to be a lethal combination in wrecking the intricate balance that is much

needed between human activities, economic growth and the environment. Factors such as stark

differences in income levels, lack of proper civic amenities, as well as the absence of strict

zoning regulations leading to an admixture of land use, characterize the cities in the developing

countries.

Various studies have proven that the urban environmental issues have tended to assume an

important dimension especially in developing countries since there is a rapid increase both in the

number of cities and in the urban population.

Though it is a well-known fact that urbanization is closely followed by an array of social and

environmental problems, this study mainly focuses on the major environmental issues that have

cropped in the study region. The cause of most of the environmental problems in this

metropolitan city is unplanned urbanization as well as various other human interventions which

man has undertaken in order to achieve economic growth. But the truth is that man himself is

going to be at the receiving end of natural calamities that are initiated by him in the name of

progress and prosperity. The outcome of constantly interfering with the ecological balance is

visible in the form of various air-borne, water-borne and food-borne diseases apart from the

problem of water-logging during the monsoons, disruption of the transport network, decline in

the quantity and quality of fish catch, disappearance of the vegetative cover, an overall impact on

human life, etc.

Increasing urban populations and heavy concentration of industry and automotive traffic in cities

has resulted in severe air pollution. Emissions from automobiles and factories, domestic heating,

bakeries, roadside eateries and garbage-burning are putting the health of city dwellers at stake,

thus threatening long-term productivity as well as economic and environmental cost for the city.

Approximately 50% of the total population residing in Mumbai lives in slums which lack basic

hygiene and possess the bare minimum civic amenities.

All these issues acquire added significance in urban centres which generate immense quantities

of waste due to concentration of population and other human activities. Excessive over-crowding

of public places and congested roads are a common feature in Mumbai. Apart from the physical

stress that people undergo due to the abovementioned factors, air pollutants, too, have a negative

impact on the health of the residents.

Emissions from motor vehicles have been directly influencing increased levels of air pollution in

urban centres of the world (Mage et al, 1996; Mayer 1999). Besides substantial CO2 emissions,

significant quantities of CO, HC, NOx, SPM and other air toxins are emitted from motor vehicles

in the atmosphere, causing serious environmental and health impacts. UNEP as well as the

World Health Organization observed in 1992 that air pollution from motor vehicles is one of the

most serious and rapidly growing problems in urban centres of India.

The problem of air pollution due tovehicular emissionshas assumed serious proportions in some

of the major metropolitan cities of India and the problem has further been compounded by the

concentration of increasing number of vehicles in these cities. Therefore it is clearly evident that

vehicle emissions present an important environmental hazard that needs to be investigated, since

it may shorten the lifespan of people who are constantly exposed to it.

Thus, some of the issues which are considered to be requiring urgent attention and also requiring

remedial measures for maintenance of an ecological balance in the region are undertaken for the

purpose of study.

There are two main aspects that are considered for the purpose of study.

1. The first section deals with air quality at different locations in Mumbai and the total

number of vehicles owned in different administrative divisions of the city. A bifurcation

is also attempted with respect to diesel-run and petrol-run vehicles, in order to assess

their impact on the emission of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) as well as

Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM). Issues related to quality of air in parts

of Mumbai are studied to explore if auto-emissions are contributing to the increasing

pollutant load in the city and suburbs.

2. The second section focuses on the problem of solid waste management in Mumbai;

wherein, an effort is made so as to ascertain whether population increase and the

associated human activities are responsible for the growth in the generation of solid waste

in the city. An attempt is made to assess the situation in the light of the increase of

population and the employment profile at a ward level.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between environmental issues and the

various human activities responsible for the same.

The following objectives will be addressed:

• To bring out the major issues of environmental degradation existing in Mumbai (Island

City as well as the suburban area), such as ever-increasing population, increasing

vehicular population, air quality and the problem of solid waste management.

• To gauge if decline in air quality caused due increase in the levels of Nitrogen Oxides,

Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) as well as Suspended Particulate

Matter (SPM); and to find out if increasing vehicular population in Mumbai is a major

contributor.

• To explore the spatial and temporal variation of solid wastes in the city at a ward level.

• To suggest some corrective measures, if possible, to curb the process of environmental

degradation, that is happening due to various human activities and the unchecked process

of urbanization in the city.

METHODOLOGY

• The first section of the study tries to explore if any relation exists between the quality of

air, especially the concentration levels of RSPM, SPM, NO2 and SO2 in parts of Mumbai;

and the number of vehicles registered in the city as well as suburbs. For this purpose,

information related to air quality is obtained from the CPCB website, National

Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) office as well as the Air Quality

Monitoring Research Lab, Khar (Mumbai). The NEERI has three monitoring stations at

Worli, Parel and Kalbadevi, for which it monitors concentration levels of various

pollutants on an hourly basis and also on a 24-hourly basis.

• The annual average concentration in µg/m3 for RSPM, SPM, SO2 and NO2 for the three

monitoring stations was arrived at from the daily values. The air data for other locations

(Andheri, Khar, Bhandup, Borivali, Maravali and Kalbadevi) was obtained and the

annual average was calculated for each of the parameters for the all the monitoring

stations. The values thus obtained were compared with the National Ambient Air Quality

Standards specified by the Central Pollution Control Board. All values are analyzed and

graphically represented. The trend is observed for each of the station.

• Data related to number of vehicles registered in Mumbai during the period 1961 to 2011

was gathered from the Motor Transport Statistics of Maharashtra to study the growth

pattern in the number of vehicles in the central, eastern and western zone of the Greater

Mumbai. The percentage increase or decrease in the total number of vehicles registered

region-wise is calculated to get an insight into the growth trend between the period 1980

and 2010.

• Information from both the findings of the air quality over the different locations and the

growth in the vehicular registrations in the three different zones demarcated by the

transport department was taken up simultaneously to see if any comparison could be

made in the light of the findings. The percentage increase or decrease in the total number

of vehicles registered for select years was taken into consideration to arrive at a

conclusion if the increasing number of vehicles is leading to air quality decline. The map

of Mumbai is superimposed with the air and vehicle population data in an attempt to

explore if a correlation exists.

• The data for the number of vehicles using diesel, petrol, LPG and CNG in the Mumbai

region have been taken into consideration. The data was available for the years 2008,

2010 and 2011. The percentage of diesel-run vehicles to the total is calculated in an

attempt to get a clear picture regarding the percentage growth in the years 2008, 2010 and

2011. This is done as it has been understood from various studies that diesel-run vehicles

are more responsible for the release of air pollutants which are harmful to the health and

well-being of the residents exposed to it.

• In the second section of this study, the amount of solid waste generated at a ward level

and area-level was obtained to derive the spatial and temporal analysis by calculating the

coefficient index. The population data at an area level as well as ward level for select

years is taken into consideration to understand if population growth is solely responsible

for the increasing amount of solid waste that is generated in the Greater Mumbai region.

• Apart from this the level of employment profile is also taken into account to find if

employment growth existing in the various wards of Mumbai could be a causative factor

for the increasing volume of the floating population which could consequently be

responsible for the generation of the excessive solid wastes in the study region. The data

related to various demographic parameters was obtained from the Census Department,

Government of India.

• The data related to solid waste was collected from the Solid Waste Management Cell of

the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai which has the responsibility of collection

and disposal of solid waste and night soil generated by the city every day.

• For the years 1991 and 2011, data were collected at the ward level to get an insight into

the spatial variations in generation of solid waste within the city.

• With the help of the overall figures it was possible to relate the amount of solid waste

generated to the population at different time periods. The ward level data for two time

periods was utilized for determining the difference in the city and the suburbs; the

differences between eastern and western suburbs were also analyzed.

• For the year 2011, population data at ward level was not available from the Census

Department. Therefore, the overall figures for the island city and for the suburban region

were taken into consideration to calculate the concentration index.

• Method used for Analysis:For analysis of spatial variation at the ward level a

concentration index was derived which may be expressed as:

SWi/Pi

CSWi = --------------------------

SWj/Pj

Where,

CSWi= Concentration index of solid waste in the ith ward

SWi = Solid waste in the ith ward

SWj= Total solid waste in Greater Mumbai

Pi = Population in the ith ward

Pj= Total population of Greater Mumbai

If the ratio between SWiand Pi and ratio between SWjand Pjis the same then CSWi=

1. If CSWi> 1, it indicates a higher generation of solid waste per capita than for the city

as a whole, while if CSWiis < 1, it indicates less generation of solid waste per capita as

compared to the average conditions of Greater Mumbai.

The concentration index was calculated for the island city as well as for suburbs as a

whole. Suitable maps and graphs have been inserted at relevant places to represent the

findings. Maps have been made by using Mapinfo software version 9.

• In both the sections, secondary data is collated and analyzed. Studies undertaken by

various Government agencies are also taken into consideration. The Government

Agencies from which data was obtained were NEERI, MPCB, CPCB website, Solid

Waste Management Department of MCGM, All India Institute of Local Self

Government, Motor Transport Department of Maharashtra State, etc.

• Interactions with scientists at NEERI and also other office-bearers of all the above-

mentioned agencies also proved fruitful in understanding the issues in more detail.

IMPORTANT RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The main findings of the present study in the first section are related to the air quality over

different locations in Greater Mumbai region and the vehicular growth taking place in the three

transport zones of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM).

The findings of the study undertaken are discussed below:-

1. Annual average concentration values of SO2 were found to be within limits for all sites,

though marginally higher values were observed at Bhandup, Maravali, Andheri and Khar,

for the period under study. With respect to NO2 levels in general, it can be seen that the

average annual concentration values have been found to be increasing and have exceeded

the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standards since the year 2003-2004 for all

sites, except Borivali.Andheri and Tilaknagar generally have the worst traffic bottlenecks

in the city and therefore possess highest levels of Nitrous Oxides and Suspended

Particulate Matter values (SPM).

2. SPM level was found to have exceeded the CPCB standards at all the sites. Maravali and

Khar sites are found to be heavily polluted.Maravali site which already indicated the

highest SPM value in the year 1999-2001, showed a significant increase in the

consequent years.In the year 2010-11, Maravali possessed SPM values which were

almost six times that of Borivali and thrice that of the other monitoring stations.

Maravali, an industrial zone lies in the Eastern suburb is located close to Chembur. The

fact that it is an industrial area and is also located in the vicinity of Chembur, which itself

is home to some of Mumbai’s most environmentally hazardous factories and industrial

plants, is proof enough for its status as the most polluted area for almost more than a

decade. The presence of the sprawling Chembur-Dharavi slum area, with its various

small manufacturing units and the prevailing unhygienic conditions because of the piling

heaps of garbage, and open-burning is also another important factor responsible for the

high pollutant load experienced in Maravali.

3. The RSPM values with respect to Parel, Worli and Kalbadevi. For all the three siteds

(Parel, Worli and Kalbadevi) it was observed that the values dropped during the year

2004, remained almost constant for the next two years and then again rose during the year

2009, after which it again declined during the year 2010. This sudden spurt during the

year 2009 and the sudden decline during the year 2010 appeared to be a perplexing

finding. The rise can be attributed to population growth, various other human activities,

apart from the increasing vehicular population, but the sudden decline by almost 50% is

difficult to justify. Though, some kind of error by the data provider cannot be overlooked.

4. The three monitoring sites chosen by NEERI represented one industrial activity zone

(Parel), a commercial activity zones (Kalbadevi) and a residential activity zone (Worli).

Though the zones have been classified as commercial, residential and industrial, it is

common knowledge that in Mumbai city one does not find any region which is purely

and solely based on a single landuse pattern. Places such as Parel which were earlier

basically industrial in nature, have transformed into an overlap of commercial as well as

residential area.

Similarly, Kalbadevi and Worli which are selected as commercial and residential zones

respectively again face a similar problem as both places do not conform entirely to the

assigned zone. The evolution of the urbanization process in Mumbai has been such that

residential as well as commercial zones overlap. Though the selected site with respect to

the activity zone has been specified for convenience purpose, each zone will always have

mixed activities.

5. A discussion with the scientists at the NEERI centre also revealed that the assigned zones

of industrial, commercial and residential regions in Mumbai cannot be strictly allotted the

specified National Ambient Air Quality Standards put forth by the CPCB due to the

overlapping of various land-uses.

6. The percentage of violation of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) (24

hourly average) for RSPM as well as SPM for the years 2004, 2005 and 2006 at the

industrial site of Parel depicted much lower values as compared to the other two sites, of

Kalbadevi and Worli assigned as residential sites. Personal observations have led to

conclude that loading, unloading and transfer of cloth and other materials in the busy

lanes of Kalbadevi and the Crawford market in close vicinity, which remains crowded

with shops, hawkers and customers throughout the day may be an important factor for the

higher RSPM and SPM levels consequently leading to of violation of the NAAQS for

RSPM and SPM. The violation of NAAQS with respect to SO2 and NO2 revealed that

both these parameters were well within the standards specified by the CPCB and that the

violation was insignificant. The main reasons for this situation could be because of

shifting of most of the industries from Mumbai region that began in the early 90s itself.

Another reason could also be that population density being high at Worli and Kalbadevi

contributes to the increasing emission load of RSPM and SPM.

Kalbadevi, which as earlier mentioned is the focal region where most of the commercial

activities take place, especially the wholesale market for textiles, electronic goods, etc.

The residential area at Kalbadevi is easily overshadowed by the existing trading units in

the lanes and by-lanes of Kalbadevi that are perpetually crowded and congested. Road

dust arising of out loading and unloading of goods on the streets, apart from the vehicular

exhaust in this region is probably an important source of Suspended Particulate Matter as

well as Respirable Suspended Matter.

The other residential site of Worli, too shows almost equally high levels of both RSPM as

well as SPM. Here too, it may be noted that though Worli is not an industrial area the

causes of high levels of RSPM as well as SPM may be attributed to the open eateries,

bakeries, open refuse burning, road dust as well as vehicular exhaust arising out of the

constant and sluggish moving vehicles.

The reason for reduction of NO2 levels may be attributed to improvement in

infrastructure such as concretization and widening of roads, flyovers, subways, control

and synchronization of traffic signals, improvement in traffic movement to some extent

that leads to reduction in idling of vehicles, strict implementation of anti-pollution norms

for vehicles and use of ultramodern technology in new vehicles may have led to reduction

in auto-exhaust gases emissions. (ESR BMC, 1999-2000)

7. The CPCB reports as well as MPCB has reported a decline in emission load both these

parameters mainly due to shifting out of the previously existing industries. Though

Chembur and nearby areas in the Eastern Suburbs still have some of the polluting

industries such as the Chemical and Fertilizer industries, etc, the immediate effect of the

pollutant load is to some extent offset by the CDM initiatives adopted especially by the

RCF industries; as well as by the absorption scrubbers utilized by the other industries in

the vicinity, inorder to curb air pollution.

8. Levels of the various criteria air pollutants are generally found to be low during summer

and monsoons and high during winter and post monsoon seasons. The phenomena of

seasonal fluctuation is attributed to meteorological conditions, such as predominant wind

directions, turbulence and frequency of inversion, rains, etc. this has multiple effects,

dispersion of pollutants is rapid due to high turbulence and washing down of pollutants

due to rains. On the other hand accumulation of air pollutants occurs due to frequency of

inversion and stable conditions in the winter.

The configuration of Mumbai is such that industries are located in the north/north-eastern

part. The predominant wind direction is south/south-west during monsoons ad

north/north-east in winter. Stable atmospheric conditions ad predominant wind direction

in winter cause high pollution levels in Mumbai. (ESR Report, BMC, 2008).

9. Another very important and fortunate factor with respect to Mumbai is its coastal

location. The ventilating effects due to its maritime location may prevent the excessive

pile-up of the polluting parameters over the city. Thus the air turbulence and thus the air

quality of Mumbai are influenced by the diurnal land and sea breezes. The land and sea

breezes have a profound impact on the concentration levels of the various air pollutants at

different locations at different times of the year. The impact can be understood while

making a comparison of number of vehicles on road in Mumbai and in Delhi. Delhi with

slightly fewer vehicles-on road, experiences a higher concentration level of air pollutants

largely due to its geographical location.

10. Since 1991, Mumbai has seen a negative growth in industrial development. The city has

more concentration of commercial and other tertiary activities. This indicates that apart

from other area sources such as hotels, bakeries, open eateries, crematoria, etc. that are

responsible, the transport network, plays a major role in the decline in quality of air in

Mumbai, with an ever-increasing number of commuters who travel from the suburbs to

the island city. Incidentally, Kalbadevi, the old CBD lies in South Mumbai, that is in the

island city. The historical CBD that is the Fort Region as well as the modern corporate

CBD, Nariman Point too, lies in southern part of the island city. Though, the new

BandraKurla Complex is an upcoming focal point in Mumbai, the commuters travelling

to south Mumbai and back is much higher as compared to the other destinations. This has

grossly increased the traffic congestion on this route. Consequently the vehicular traffic

and pollution both, on this sector are very high during peak hours.

11. In the past, the CPCB as well as NEERI in their respective findings have concluded that

the air quality decline seems to be more pertinent in the suburbs than in the island city.

This theory holds true, as it can be seen that the vehicular population growth rate is found

to be maximum in the Mumbai (W) zone. The Mumbai (W) with places like Bandra,

wherein the overall population as well as the slum population is increasing. The Airport

and D.N.Nagar region too, with the slum areas of Dharavi in the neighbourhood, with the

associated and combined impacts of various anthropogenic activities as well as the

increasing traffic and the never-ending construction activities; and other repair works are

serving as major factors in the multiplied effect of rising air pollution in the respective

area.

Though, as pointed out by CPCB the high load contribution does not necessarily lead to

high ambient contribution of a particular source at the receptor site since emission

distribution in atmosphere depends upon multitude of factors such as local meteorology,

location, season, height of release, atmospheric removal processes and diurnal variation.

12. The findings related to the vehicular growth and the emission load of the city indicated

that emission values of Particulate Matter due to vehicular exhaust are much higher than

what they are for the emissions from industrial sources. The CO emission values for the

transport sector are almost half of what they are for the other area sources. The SO2

emissions are dominated by the industrial sources. NOx values are also lower as

compared to with the industrial sources, but the rail transport accounts for a major share

of NOx emissions. Hydro-carbons (HC) are, again, an important source of air pollution as

far as the transport sector is concerned. In comparison to the industrial sources of HC, the

vehicular exhaust accounts for 6 times the values obtained for industrial locations.

Though, other sources such as bakeries, crematoria, restaurants, open landfill burning,

etc. account for major share of HC emissions.

13. The Western Transport zone of Mumbai consisting of Bandra, D.N.Nagar, Wakola,

Airport, Saki Naka, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivali and Borivali reveals a significantly

higher growth rate of registration of vehicles as compared to the other two zones. An

analysis of the percentage growth of vehicles reflected that the western as well as eastern

transport zones are experiencing a marginal decline, while the Central Transport zone

experienced a fluctuating trend.

14. Khar and Andheri, which are found to be highly polluted with respect to air quality, lie in

the western transport zone. At the same time it has been found that the total vehicular

population is found to be highest in the Western Transport zone followed by the central

transport zone. It is interesting to note that Borivali also lies in the Western Transport

Zone and is the least polluted. The Borivali region encloses a notified National Park, and

therefore the population as well as number of vehicles is very less as compared to other

regions of Mumbai. The absence of industries and presence of a large stretch of natural

vegetation in Borivali also explains the comparative purity of air in the region.

15. Kalbadevi and Worli lie in the Central transport zone. Kalbadevi and Worli have higher

values of SPM as well as RSPM, and coincidently also have the maximum number of

vehicles using diesel as fuel. Kalbadevi is one of the busiest areas of South Mumbai. At

the same time, Worli lies on the path which is traversed by the north-bound traffic. The

road from Haji Ali towards Worli experiences traffic blockades very often, thus having

very sluggishly moving traffic which is also responsible for adding vehicular exhaust to

the region.

16. On the other hand the Eastern Transport region comprises of Maravali and Bhandup air

monitoring stations. The total number of vehicles registered in the Eastern region is least

as compared to the other two regions. But the air quality at Maravali is extremely bad.

For all the years for which the data was available and study undertaken, Maravali has

been found to be the most polluted of all the stations monitored for air quality. Other

factors that seem to influence the air quality at Maravali, are its proximity to Chembur as

well as the largest Dumping ground of Deonar being located in close vicinity. Maravali

as well as Chembur being industrial zones are host to a lot of environmentally hazardous

industries. The presence of Deonar dumping ground in the vicinity is also another

important source of air pollutants, as the process of dumping garbage, open burning, etc

causes added load of particulate matter. The ESR of Brihan Mumbai (1999-2000; 2010-

11), too has revealed that air quality at Deonar dumping ground exceeds the permissible

limit specified by the CPCB. The NOx and RSPM levels at the Deonar Dumping Ground

are about 140µg/m3 and 350 respectively (ESR MCGM, 2010-11).

17. A comparison of the decadal growth of Solid Waste and that of Population, for the period

1961 to 2011 was arrived at and the picture that arises is interesting to note as it can be

seen that though the decadal growth of population seems to be on a constant decline. At

the same time, the decadal growth of solid waste too is constantly decreasing, though the

amount is still quite substantial.

18. There is a more than three-fold increase in the quantity of solid waste generated in

Greater Mumbai region between the period 1971 and 2011 but the decadal growth reveals

an increase from about 3% in 1971 to 41% in 2011. During the same time-frame,

population has doubled, but the decadal growth of population dropped from 43.8% in

1971 to 4.4% in 2011.

19. During the year 2001, a negative growth in the percentage of decadal growth was

observed which seems out of place and difficult to analyze. There does not seem any

valid justification for the sudden drop by 65% and then followed by a sudden spurt of a

55% increase in the year 2011. In all probability there could be some error in the values

obtained from the SWM Cell of MCGM for the year 2001. A very important observation

in this aspect is that the rate of growth of solid wastes does not seem to be directly

influenced by the population growth. The amount of solid waste generated in the city has

generally increased over time and especially after 1971, the rate of increase has been

more rapid than that of population. This implies that it is not only the total population

growth that is responsible for the growth of solid waste but the prevalence of other

factors such as employment opportunities in certain geographical locations of the study

region, that could be responsible for increasing amount of garbage.

20. A predominant increase in employment level in the island city followed by a marginal

increase in the western suburbs could be responsible for a major chunk of population

travelling towards the island city and the rest towards the western suburbs. The 1991-92

figures for the quantity of solid waste generated annually reveal that the city as well as

western suburbs has almost the same amount of solid waste generated; while the eastern

suburban region generates only 25% of the waste in comparison to the other two

administrative divisions. In the year 2011-12 too, it is clearly evident that the quantity of

solid waste generated continues to remain significantly high in both the island city as well

as in the western suburbs. The eastern suburbs does not reveal a significant increase in

employment profile, but other studies have pointed to the fact that a considerable amount

of construction work in the eastern suburbs be may be responsible for the increasing

amount of garbage being generated .

21. The concentration index for the city region grew from 1.4 to 1.6 from 1991 to 2011. The

values for the concentration index of solid waste are indicative of the fact that the

increasing amount of solid waste cannot be attributed to population growth alone.

The employment scene in the island city showed maximum growth rate of employment in A-

ward (Colaba) followed by D- ward (Grant Road), it being 5.7% and 2.03% respectively. The

spatial variation for the corresponding wards with respect to percentage of total quantity of

solid waste generated was about 4.4% and 5.3% for A and G ward respectively.

Colaba, lying at the southern extreme of the island city is more of a commercial street and

extending towards the naval command region. It is known for its cafes, restaurants and retail

showrooms and footpath shops, and has also become the cultural hub of the city, especially

for South Mumbai. It also houses administrative offices, educational institutes, national

galleries and museums, other places of tourist attraction in the form of heritage buildings and

monuments. All these factors have contributed to a higher employment growth rate in this

ward, though the population growth rate in this ward is much lesser as compared to the other

wards such a D, E, F and G wards of the island city. The reason for less amount of solid

waste being generated in this region could be due to people’s awareness to segregate waste

before disposing it off and also because of efficient cleaning process taken up by the BMC

workers as it serves as an important destination for national as well as foreign officials,

dignitaries and tourists.

On the other hand, D ward (Grant Road) is dominated by various business and commercial

activities, small road-side eateries, apart from the existence of the local vegetable, fruit, fish

and meat market, which attracts a lot of local citizens is generally crowded throughout the

year, and the rate of generation of municipal solid waste is found to be much faster than the

rate at which the garbage is sorted out, collected and transported from this region. This could

also be due to the fact that the Grant Road streets remains congested through most of daytime

until late evening, thus making transportation of garbage by the large vehicles twice daily, a

rather difficult task, though the BMC has made it compulsory for the contractors to collect

garbage twice a day from all collection points.

In the Eastern suburbs, the data points to a higher population growth rate in M and L wards

in 2001. M and L-wards correspond to Chembur and Kurla respectively. Chembur is

followed by Kurla in terms of population in the year 2001. With respect to the employment

growth rate in the eastern suburbs, the M and L wards experienced a growth rate of 0.28%

and -3.8% respectively. It is a known fact that Chembur houses many chemicals, fertilizers

plants, refineries and reactors. Several other studies too have pointed out that Chembur has

been facing pollution problems and was even listed as one of the most polluted industrial

clusters in India. Its proximity to the Deonar dumping ground has been responsible for the

high rate of incidence of diseases in Chembur region.

Thus, it can be concluded that Chembur has got a problem of high generation of municipal

solid waste not only due to the excessive population but also due to the existence of a large

number of environmentally-hazardous industries located in and around Chembur. This

finding is supported by various other studies which have pointed out that Chembur also has

found high levels of toxic metals and non-metals such as copper, chromium, calcium, arsenic

and mercury in ground water. Effluents from the oil refineries, fertilizer plants and atomic

reactor located in Chembur are also said to have polluted sea water in the nearby Thane creek

and is also responsible to have affected marine life.

On the other hand, the western suburbs experienced a marginal increase in the growth of

employment opportunities between the period from 1990 to 1998. The increase is very

prominent in the H and R- Ward. The H ward which constitutes Bandra, Khar and Santacruz;

and the R ward which constitutes regions of Kandivali, Dahisar and Borivali are apparently

providing more employment opportunities in the geographical area of the western suburbs.

Bandra has become the focal point of the commercial and business hub in the new CBD that

Bandra-Kurla Complex offers. The growth in the employment in the R ward can be attributed

to the growing population in the suburban region due to which a rise in the number of

educational institutions, shopping malls, banking and other financial institutions is being

witnessed. The growth of these places with respect to employment opportunities should also

be seen in the context of them being accessible due to the local train routes passing through

these regions.

CONCLUSION

Levels of Sulphur Dioxide have been found to be continuously declining at all locations taken up

for analysis. Levels of NO2 have marginally declined in most areas of the study region. The only

parameters that are found to be showing a consistent and significant increase are the levels of

Suspended Particulate Matter and Respirable Particulate Matter. Khar and Maravali are found to

be the most polluted, wherein all the parameters of pollutants are found to exceed the acceptance

limits by National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The industrial zone of Maravali, accompanied

by the increase in the employment levels as well as the consequence of traffic congestion for

most of the day, all seem to have a compounded effect on the emission load of air pollutants in

this region. It may be noted that Maravali, lies very close to Chembur, which already is being

referred to as a ‘Gas Chembur’ by many researchers and environmentalists.

Increasing upgradation of the pollution control sytems by industries, feasible and appropriate and

urgent infrastructural changes in the city with respect to transportation network are an urgent

requirement if improved conditions of air quality are to be achieved. Though it is extremely

difficult to find open spaces in Mumbai city, if some way is found to increase the green cover on

the roof tops and the local civic authorities too, can try and save the existing tree cover in various

parts of the city, a drastic improvement in the air quality could be achieved.

An increase in the employment opportunities naturally implies a higher standard of living and a

high-end lifestyle for many people, who tend to become more consumerist in their day to day

approach. Despite the increasing consumerism, we have most people who are still ignorant about

civic sense and duties and more-so about the ill-effects of having a large carbon footprint.

Another important aspect that cannot be neglected is the inability of the civic authorities who are

rendered inefficient in managing the tremendous rate at which garbage is being generated. The

inefficiency seems to arise from the fact that the number of persons employed and vehicles

involved for the process of collection and disposal, though increasing is still lagging behind.

Another important reason is also the fact that though, according to the SWM Department of

MCGM, the vehicles used in collection and transportation of the garbage need to make two trips

per day on the same route, the traffic congestion on the Mumbai streets makes this task

impossible. Even the Solid Waste Department of MCGM has confessed that the dumping

grounds of Mulund and Deonar have very clearly outlived their lifespan and are proving

insufficient for accommodating and handling the ever-increasing amount of garbage. An article

in a National daily, Hindustan Times, 1st November, 2012, specified the observations made in an

official report submitted by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) that the

Kanjurmarg dumping ground did not follow the norms of the Municipal Solid Wastes Rules,

2000. The report pointed out that the solid waste disposed at the site was not segregated and

machines used to segregate bio-degradable and non-biodegradable waste were lying unused. The

waste was also being dumped at the site without proper soil cover (10 cms of soil) that helps

contain the stench.

This reveals the inadequacy on the part of contractors to collect and dispose off the garbage in a

mandatory manner. Thus, despite appropriate government policies and available facilities, such

as bio reactors, composting facilities, etc., these are not being made use of to the fullest of their

capacity and at times even lie unused. According to another report submitted by the Maharashtra

Pollution Control Board, the contractors associated with the Solid Waste Department of

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai have cited several ‘constraints’ in the process of

collection of waste; while the most important reason cited is shortage of collection vehicles.

New sites, equipped with improved and suitable technology have to be proposed for being used

as dumping grounds. Strict adherence to the MSW Rules, with respect to segregation of dry and

wet wastes at every level, reuse and recycling of wastes and other materials; and strengthening

the role of rag-pickers and NGOs can definitely go a long way in reducing the amount of waste

reaching the dumping site.