In three decades, seawater will return to Mumbai

- Hotline-Bhalchandra Jani

Experts say that Mumbai will gradually sink into the sea in the coming years as the sea level rises due to global warming.

The historic building of Gateway of India will be erased from the map of Mu Bina, Chopati Bhel will be mentioned in the story of grandmother, no flight will take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, no loving couple will be seen intertwined on Marine Drive, and even Shah Rukh Khan After 5 years from today, all these landmarks of Mumbai will come under water.

The scenario is envisioned in a report titled 'Climate Migrants in South Asia: Estimates and Solutions' prepared by an NGO called Greenpeace. The report, prepared by Sudhir Chella Raj, a meteorologist and professor of humanities at IIT Chennai, states that if greenhouse emissions continue at the current rate, temperatures will rise by four to five degrees Celsius, which will be as high as 400 degrees Celsius. By sea the sea level will rise five meters. This means that an estimated 50 million Indians will become homeless and become 'climate migrants'.

"There is an obvious direct threat to the low elevation coastal zone (LECZ), which includes coastal areas less than 10 meters above the average sea level. Hard areas like Backbay Reclamation and Bandra-Kurla Complex also fall into this category. Greenpeace activist Shweta Ganesh Kumar feared that not only Mumbai native Koli but also superstar Shah Rukh Khan would be affected as the rising sea level would return to Mannat, a monkey bungalow at Bandra Bandstand.

Greenpeace estimates that 20 years from now, human migration will be ten times greater than that seen during the Indo-Pakistani partition.

Let's assume that the year 2100 is still a long way off. The commissioner has expressed fears that Mumbai will be flooded again by 2020.

Goa-based scientist Dr. Rajiv Nigam has recently predicted that by the year 2020, coastal metros Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai will be largely submerged in the sea. According to him, global warming is increasing rapidly. Due to which the sea level is rising rapidly due to the melting of the polar ice caps. As a result, sea levels will rise by four to five meters within the next two decades. If the sea level rises by four meters on the west coast of Goa alone, property worth about Rs 5,000 crore will be damaged.

Recently, scientists at Tata Energy Research also said that rising sea levels would lead to backwater reclamation in Mumbai and submergence in many places in low-lying areas like Varsova and Marve. Figures collected during the 20th century show that sea levels have risen by one and a half millimeters in the last hundred years.

In the case of India, this warning is mainly of concern to Mumbaigaras.

According to an international study conducted by Climate Control, a US-based scientific research institute, some coastal areas of central Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane coastal areas of Tata Vasai-Virar and Mira Bhayandar are most at risk of flooding by 2020.

The institute does not impose any restrictions on emissions using artificial intelligence and satellite imagery. It has estimated the risk of waterlogging in various areas in the years 2030, 2020 and 2100, with moderate cuts in emissions and uncontrolled levels of pollution. Similar findings have emerged from a study by the NASA shuttle radar topography mission.

If emissions continue to rise, by 2030, 30 million people in India will face annual flooding. By the year 2100, this number will increase to 25 million.

A study has found that after the sea level rises by about one meter, water will return to the surface area of ​​4 square kilometers in the Mumbai metropolis in the next century.

According to the study, two and a half times as much land from Sanjay Gandhi National Park will be submerged in sea water. Because the area of ​​the national park is 108 square kilometers.

Scientists believe that the earth is slowly warming up. Studies of the Earth's temperature over the past 150 years suggest that our atmosphere is getting warmer day by day. Due to which the ice spread over the polar region is melting. Over the last two-three years, the process of converting these glaciers into water has accelerated. Due to which the sea water is constantly rising. This rising sea level is predicting future floods.

In the case of Mumbai, environmentalists as well as other meteorologists are of the opinion that Mumbai is experiencing a warmer climate than other parts of the nation due to the growing number of cement-concrete buildings and declining greenery. Pollution has also increased due to the increased number of vehicles. Experts, however, are not talking about the entire Mumbai city sinking. He says that in the next three to four decades, 80 per cent of metropolitan Mumbai will be submerged in eight to ten feet of sea water.

There was a time when buying a flat or a bungalow on the beach in Mumbai cost two to three times more than the normal price.

For Mumbai's wealthy, having a beach bungalow was a status symbol. But this situation is rapidly changing. The coastal people enjoy the cool breeze from the sea for eight-nine months of the year, but as soon as the monsoon arrives, there are fears. In the days of high tide, seeing the huge waves bouncing high in the sea, it makes my mind flutter that somewhere the sea will not swallow! For the same reason, property prices in the coastal zone are now falling. Alas, in many areas of Mumbai, people avoid buying flats or shops on the ground floor.

Actress Hema Malini has built a new bungalow in Goregaon instead of Juhu's low-lying house. So superstar Amitabh Bachchan is also upset. The artist is planning to park his luxurious motors in the elevated part of the nearby JW Marriott Hotel so that they do not sink in the water. Recently Amitabh Bachchan has bought a large flat upstairs in a multi-storey luxurious house in Varsova.

Months ago, the Juhu area was flooded without rain. The sky was clear and so was the sunlight. However, due to the high tide, the waves rose as high as 2.5 meters (twelve feet). The result was knee-deep flooding in the Juhu area.

The local corporator of Juhu said that it has started raining now. It is like imagining what would happen to the area if there were heavy gusts and tides. The high waves that erupted last month due to the storm surge in the sea rushed as far as Amitabh Bachchan and his neighbors' bungalows. The ground was flooded.

Today, most of Mumbai's population lives along the beaches of Marine Drive, Cuff Parade, Colaba, Girgaum, Worli, Bandra, Juhu, Versova, Charkop and Gorai. Imagine what the city will be like when Mumbai's population reaches three crore in the next two decades. In this situation, if there is torrential rain, if the waves of the sea become stormy, the condition of Mumbaigara, which is situated on the coast, will be shaken than imagined.

Experts say that in the name of developers, Mumbai's builders and politicians' lobby has encroached on the tidal wave, causing the sea to swell in retaliation. Nature's protective wall is also being destroyed by haphazard destruction of mangrove vegetation growing along the coast. Some experts also said that the risk was due to the Coastal Road project. So it is certain that future tidal waves will wreak more havoc. If this matter is not taken seriously, Mumbai will suffer the same fate as the city of New Orleans in the United States.

Recently, under the Maharashtra Maritime Board's (MMB) Shoreline Management Plan, it has been suggested that the surface of buildings or other structures on the coast in Mumbai should be raised at least 2.5 meters above the mean sea level by 2020. Only then can the coastal constructions be able to withstand the waves of the sea.

As per the rules of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), no construction can be erected within a distance of 200 meters from the mark of the Indian sea. It is important to keep this in mind while formulating an urban development plan. For the first time in Maharashtra, a shoreline management plan has been formulated. In Singapore and Australia, a Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) has already been formulated. That is why this SMP is considered before undertaking any development work on the coast.

Dr. P.J., associated with the Mumbai Society of Clean City's project. Devaras has been collecting data on rainfall, temperature, and earthquakes for the past few years. Like other environmentalists, he urges that if proper action is not taken in a timely manner, sea water will return to many parts of metropolitan Mumbai in five decades. Where there is water. Skyscrapers and large palaces at Nariman Point, Colaba, Cuff Parade, Walkeshwar and Pader Road will be submerged. Or all these areas will not be habitable due to the huge waves of the sea. The situation will be similar in coastal Worli, Vandra, Juhu, Varsova and other suburbs. In a nutshell Mumbai was or will be. Perhaps the new generation will get a glimpse of what Mumbai Didar was like on a scattered island four hundred years ago!

Humans have been consuming a lot of space over the years. In Mumbai, many areas like Nariman Point, Cuff Parade, Marine Drive, Worli etc. are settled on reclaimed land. Earlier, the sea water was roaring there. Now, Varundev and Daryadev Weifer are not surprised to be able to do this in one fell swoop. If this really happens, it will be a nightmare. The fact is that even though the situation is rapidly deteriorating and mankind is getting out of control, the sleep of the rulers is not flying, at present Mumbai is sinking one and a half millimeters every year.

This risk of catastrophe is not one-sided. On the one hand, cities are at risk of drowning due to rising sea levels, while on the other hand, some cities are at risk of sinking deeper into the ground. With the increase in the population of the city of Mumbai, huge constructions have increased, the enormous burden of which is that the geological strip below cannot be eroded and if cavities are created, many houses will be demolished. Earthquake tradition will be created. Mumbai has been repeatedly shaken by earthquakes in recent times.

With the increase in population and the depletion of water sources on land required for industries, water is now being pumped from the subsoil. In the same way, the extraction of coal and now natural gas and mineral oil from the Bombay High Zone for energy has created a void in the petals. Scientists believe that as a result of this vacancy, the towns on this land will be shaken. And some cities, including Mumbai, will collapse due to large cracks. Cities at risk include London, Venice, Bangkok, Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Mexico City and others.

Landslides in cities have increased alarmingly in the last three to four decades. Cracks in construction, crumbling walls, crumbling buildings, and landslides or potholes are clear evidence of this.

As evidence that the city of Mumbai is buried in the ground, Dr. PJ Devaras cites cracks in buildings in Worli Village, Vandra, Varsova and Vasai, Bhayander, Nalasopara areas. By submitting an application to the Government of Maharashtra and the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Dr. Deoras has requested him to conduct a detailed study on the matter. But the authorities have not yet paid attention to this serious matter.

Said an environmentalist. For the Bandra-Worli sea link from the 18th, a large amount of water was filled in the area. Since then, Dadar Chopati has had to deal with stormy waves. The intensity of the tidal waves in the area has increased since the sweet river changed its course and flooded Mahim Bay. The Chopati area of ​​Dadar, Juhu, Varsova and Gorai on the west coast of Mumbai is on the verge of extinction.

Mumbai will be in the same situation as Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans a few years ago. The rulers are aware of all these problems yet their eyes are not opened. Everything goes smoothly. If the leaders get free time from factionalism and corruption, can they pay attention to such a serious problem?

The need of the hour is for every citizen of Mumbai to be aware of the worrisome turn of events in the global climate. Citizens in the low-lying areas of Mumbai in particular need to be constantly vigilant. If the Arabian Sea rises around Mumbai in the future, the city may be inundated with Khar, Kurla, Worli, Kherwadi, Colaba, Napiansi and parts of Andheri and Mulund. Water Degradation Since all these areas are low lying, the surging waves of the sea can easily turn on it again and cause unimaginable destruction.