DAHISAR: RIVER TURNS INTO SEWAGE
DAHISAR: RIVER TURNS INTO SEWAGE
WRITTEN BY: PRACHITI SURESH SHINDE
4th
YEAR BLS LLB
THAKUR RAMNARAYAN COLLEGE OF LAW
EDITED BY: HIMANSHU THADHANI (ADVOCATE)
INTRODUCTION
Being a Dahisarite and staying there for over a decade
now I haven’t seen any changes very nostalgic feeling seeing the river, now it
is a very sarcastic statement; why? Because it’s the same, it’s not a river but
has become a “nullah”. I have been seeing nullah for 10 years now, let’s take a
look at how beautiful, the Dahisar river was decades ago?
Splendid, isn’t it? To share a fact, this has been a
film location of Naya Daur, starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala on the
banks of Dahisar River, also of Ram teri ganga haimeli. The verdant green
landscape of Dahisar river used to be the shooting set for films and the
crocodiles have also been residing in the river until the late 60s. But it's really
shameful that it has now become a mere dumping ground. The river which splits
from Tulsi Lake in SGNP is just a mere encroachment by toxic wastes, plastic,
factory wastes, etc. The Dahisar river has several meetups with areas like SGNP,
Daulat Nagar, Dahisar gaothanetc before finally reaching its destination to the Arabian Sea via Manori Creek. It is one of the original rivers in Mumbai
besides Mithi, Oshiwara, and Poisar, NOT SO FUN FACT is all have become
extremely polluted in the present scenario.
So, what made this scenic beauty into such a filthy-looking nullah? IT'S US. The most potential reason for turning such beautiful
rivers in sewage is us, humans. Urbanization at an uncontrollable rate is
the reason for the water pollution in India. It has been so up paced that it
has left an unforgettable scar on India’s aquatic resources. As an after-effect, it has created a dearth in water supply, the generation as well as segregation
of waste, and collection of wastewater to point out a few. Treatment and
disposal of such wastewater have also been one of the leading problems in this
regard. In urban, water is utilized for both industrial as well as
domestic purposes from waterbodies. Still, almost 85% of the water used domestically
is passed in form of wastewater. In maximum cases, this wastewater is not
treated properly which creates contamination with surface-level freshwater.
It further seeps down and contaminates the groundwater too. It has been
projected that almost of 16,662 million liters of wastewater in a day is
generated by almost 1 lakh people. Though, almost 3/4th of people in
these cities have sewerage facilities available.
70%
of Earth’s surface has been reported covered with water but the matter of
question is whether the water we are talking about is accessible and available? The scarcity of clean water goes hand in hand with the spike growth of the population.
In the middle of this dilemma, is whether the masses have the right to water and if
yes, then what is this right all about. Though there has been the enactment of
various Acts and the introduction of provisions, there is a gap found in
practicality and conceptuality for that matter. The Judiciary has been trying
to mend those gaps by expanding the horizons of Article 21 which now includes “right
to healthy environment” The right to clean drinking water which is
interpreted in the sense that “right of
water resources not to be contaminated” is a negative right.
In
the case of Subhash Kumar v State of Bihar, the Apex Court opined that “the
right to live ‘includes the right to enjoy of pollution-free water and air
for the full enjoyment of life. If anything endangers or impairs that quality of
life in derogation of laws, a citizen has right to have recourse to Article 32
of the Constitution for removing the pollution of water or air which may be
detrimental to the quality of life.”
What
are the detrimental side effects? Polluted water can reportedly cause diseases
such as cholera, tuberculosis, dysentery, jaundice, and diarrhea, and also rise in
malaria and dengue as the mosquitos live upon fresh water, etc. Consummation of
such contaminated water is the cause of major stomach illness in India.
So,
can we do anything about it? What precautions do residents need to take?
1. First
and foremost is not to dump garbage in the river
2. The
minimal use of plastic would be advisable for preventing later segregation and
pilling up of the garbage in the river.
3. Start
recycling and segregation of waste at home so that later more effective
segregation system could be established.
4. The
sewage treatment plant should be established where the river originates.
5. Not just watch but educate other people to follow the same, active participation of citizens is essential.
Mumbai Maharashtra
Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray launched a Rs. 246 Crore of Dahisar
River Rejuvenation project under BMC in December 2021 which marks exactly one
year. However, no evident progress has been observed. It is 24 monthly plan which
revolves around major 11 components which include the construction of two
wastewater facilities and sewer lines connecting the settlements with such
facilities, building more green spaces, conservation of marshlands, waste
segregation facilities, building a fence around the river and growing mangroves, etc. This Plan has been conceptually bifurcated into three major phases, rejuvenation,
naturalization, and preservation. The problem exactly lies here this is a
mere conceptual plan far from reality, the river has completely transformed
into a nullah.
A few years ago, in 2016 then CM Devendra Fadnavis and his wife were involved in the
Dahisar rejuvenation program and also took part in the “RIVER MARCH” yet, be it
Aditya Thackeray or Devendra Fadnavis they were all words, and no progress was
seen. The river march has become a politicizing event and other politicians are
just using this to fill the vote bank. However, there are still some groups of
Dahisarites who are genuinely conducting clean-up drives to contribute to the
betterment.
It
is the sincere urge for the administration to take sincere steps for making this
river disguised as a nullah turn into a clean river and for citizens to create awareness as well as to fulfill their fundamental duty to protect their
surroundings.
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