Mumbai: While Mumbai still finds reeling under the July 26, 2005 deluge, an environmental report filed way back in 1996 seems to have escaped the city's attention.
Each day on his way to work Arun Srivastava, cannot help but remember the floods that devastated Mumbai in July last year.
It's ironical that he works in Mumbai's new commercial district, the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), which many say could have caused the flooding.
"People told me the BKC was built on mangrove land. I live near Kalina, CST. During the floods the situation had become terrible and water had actually reached the first floor. The whole area was submerged."
Its the steel and glass buildings that have replaced the mangroves.
This despite a warning issued by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) based on satellite images, which had made it obvious that any reclamation in the BKC area would be disastrous.
According to Scientist & Head, NEERI, Mumbai, Dr Rakesh Kumar, "If the BKC mangrove cover had been left untouched, the severity of the floods would have been much less."
It's however, a theory the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority does not accept.
Says Project Director, Mithi River Development & Protection Authority, Dr V S Tondwalkar, "BKC has not been hit on mangroves, but on mudflats, so this theory of NEERI is completely baseless."
However, ask those who've lived here for years and they have a different story to tell.
Says a slum dweller Nizam, "This entire area was a mangrove patch earlier, before the BKC came up."
The green bushes that once densely lined the Mahim Creek are nature's speed breakers and could have reduced the flooding if only they had been left untouched.
However, the mistake of the Bandra Kurla Complex has been repeated across Mumbai even this fancy mall in Malad, which was made at the cost of the mangroves in the area leaving the citizens with the all-important question - Where do things go from here?
The answer may possibly be in development that's compatible with the ecosystem around us.
To that effect, Dr Rakesh Kumar says, "An impact analysis for the entire region must be carried out and implemented."
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