INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION IN

MUMBAI-MAHUL THE HUMAN

DUMPING GROUND

TEAM MEMBERS
ROLL NUMBER NAME SEAT NUMBER
21 Ayushi Tolani FECMC1812H

22 Diti Vaswani FECMC1813H

23 Sarah Doctor FECHIC1801H

24 Achint Kaur FECHICI802H

25 Amvi Mishra FECHIC1803H

 INDEX

Sl no. TOPIC Page No. Roll no. /Seat. no.

1 Abstract and Methodology 1 23/FECHIC1801H
2 Introduction 24/FECHICI802H
3 Mumbai’s rehabilitation hellhole 24/FECHICI802H
4 Health Problems 21/FECMC1812H
5 Mumbai’s BPCL Fire 24/FECHICI802H
6 What is the Government doing ? 22/FECMC1813H

7 Water Pollution along the Mahul 25/FECHIC1803H

water creek

8 Plight of the Inhabitants 25/FECHIC1803H

9 Conclusion 25/FECHIC1803H

10 Bibliography
 ABSTRACT

This paper is a case study on pollution arising due to the Mahul dumping ground in Mumbai.
It illustrates the level of toxic heavy metals and the physico-chemical properties of waste
effluents dischargned in this area highlighting the health problems caused due to this. The
plight of the people of Mahul is elaborated as well as the measures being taken by the
government. There is a detailed explanation of the BPCL fire as well as water pollution in the
Mahul creek. This report is concluded by summarizing the problem followed by a
bibliography citing all the resources used.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This case study is highlighting the problems of pollution in the Mahul dumping ground. The
overall approach is qualitative as it is a detailed approach. The choice of methodology
employed in this case study is secondary data. Information has been gathered from newspaper
articles, websites and academic papers. Content from these sources has been studied,
analysed and collected. The writers of this paper have successfully illustrated our subject
using this research methodology.

The objectives of this paper are to analyse the problems being caused due to industrial
pollution in Mumbai, to educate the reader on its impact on the people and the city and to put
forth solutions and remedies that need to be taken.
 INTRODUCTION

Industrial pollution is generally referred to the undesirable outcome when factories (or other
industrial plants) emits harmful by-products and waste into the environment such as
emissions to air or water bodies (water pollution), deposition on landfills etc (land pollution)
or emission of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere (air pollution). Through this case study,
we have tried to highlight the plight of the poor who have been pushed away from the hustle
bustle of the city and forced to stay in the former fishing village in the east of Mumbai-
Mahul

The pictures depict the toxic hell where people are forced to live and its consequences
on human life. ( Image Courtesy: TImes OF INDIA(left), The Wire(right) )

MAHUL ​is now home to ​30,000 people who were “rehabilitated” after their slum homes
were demolished to make way for infrastructure projects.They live in 72 seven-story
structures stuck together in the shadow of oil refineries, power stations, and manure plants.
The air is sharp with the solid smell of synthetic compounds. Sewage floods into limited
roads. Mahul's is a living hell for people with its intensely contaminated air severely
influencing the lives of its occupants. The results of the medical reports of the residents give
an account of the unfavorable, unhygienic and filthy conditions in which the poor are forced
to live. The report, prepared by ​NGO Vishwashanti Lokkalyan, is based on its findings
from a medical camp held in June, where from among 575 Mahul residents, about 60 percent
were diagnosed with skin diseases and asthma, while 80 percent were found suffering
from eye-related issues. According to the health report later prepared by the NGO, all the
575 occupants who were tested complained about having a cough, cold and fever. Mahul is
“critically” polluted, according to India’s central pollution control board. A ​survey by the
city’s KEM hospital found that ​67.1% of the residents complained of ​breathlessness ​more
than three times a month, 86.6% complained of ​eye irritations ​and ​84.5% had experienced
feeling a ​choking sensation. It is one of the rare cases of rehabilitation gone wrong.
 HEALTH PROBLEMS

The presence of benzene, an organic chemical compound in the air, has been confirmed in the
air of Mahul. Benzene in the environment is 3000 per cent more, compared to the acceptable
five per cent. During the day it is 158 and at night it reaches 248 (milligram per cubic meter).
Exposure to benzene for long duration causes a ​decrease in red blood cells ​and ​affects the
bone marrow​. The chemical is known to ​affect pregnant women and ​fertility ​in men. The
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has revealed that benzene causes ​cancer
in humans and even leads to ​leukemia.

While authorities such as the BMC and MPCB continue to turn a blind eye to the seriousness
of the problems encountered by residents of Mahul, the state government is behaving as if
nothing wrong has taken place. While agencies continue to shirk their responsibility and not
even take into consideration the directives issued by the Bombay High Court, residents
continue their battle against health problems caused by refineries and industries. Day after
day several innocent lives are sucked into this 'death trap' in Mahul.
The residents of Mahul have even rejected the Rs 29 crore package offered to them by
the BMC​.They are angry with the state government because the residents were not consulted
before relocating them. And now they have offered them a package and expected them to
accept it. Just because a compensatory package is offered, does that mean that residents
should continue to stay in hell? Mahul is a highly polluted and industrial zone posing high
risk to the lives and health of the residents. The people of Mahul are not interested in the
compensation. They want clean air and good living conditions. The government has time and
again failed to relocate them.
WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING
FOR MAHUL?
Mahul, a small but polluted village in Mumbai is considered almost uninhabitable by most of
its residents. Originally a village dependent solely on fishing, today it is described by many
residents as a gas chamber. The tragic helplessness felt by the residents is only amplified by
the realization that the slums they previously resided in, despite not being the most
comfortable accommodation, were much better than the clustered death trap that is Mahul.
The people of Mahul feel neglected and betrayed as they had been promised clean, safe
homes and had been specifically promised that Mahul would not be their fate. Prior to their
rehabilitation, politicians and the BMC had organized a major function in order to make the
people more comfortable with the idea of rehabilitation, where they promised the people that
they would not be condemned to Mahul and would be rehabilitated within 3km of their
previous homes, as per the National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007. The
function was held on December 28th, 2016 before the BMC elections in early 2017 and was
attended by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra housing minister Prakash
Mehta, R ​ am Kadam, Kirit Somaiya and Vinod Tawde. ​Yet, today the rehabilitated find
themselves in a living hell that has had adverse effects on their health, livelihood, quality of
life and more importantly, their future as most of them worry for the lives of their children.
 The air pollution caused by industries in Mahul

The residents have organized several small protests with the help of the Ghar Bachao Ghar
Banao Andolan (GBGBA), and its founding member, social activist Medha Patkar. The
residents of Mahul are working closely wuth the members of the GBGBA in an attempt to
catch the attention of the government and be relocated to a cleaner environment.

The BMC, well aware of the health hazards of living in Mahul seems concerned for the
health of it citizens as they have now demanded that no new project-affected persons (PAPs)
be sent to Mahul, according to the order passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Following the concerns of the NGT and the growing problems faced by the residents, the
government has been taking certain steps in order to make life in Mahul easier. In June the
state government had allotted ₹29 crore to develop Mahul and appointed 4 contractors to
provide basic amenities and improve overall living conditions of the people living there.
However, the people soon made their disapproval of the expenditure clear by declining the
offer. The people of Mahul believe that this expenditure would be wasteful as the pollution in
the area is unbearable and will only get worse with time as the pollution from the surrounding
industries continues destroying the environment. The people were angry when the
compensation offer was made as
they were not even consulted before the decision was taken, they demand to be relocated to a
cleaner, less toxic area.
 The dangerous fumes and smoggy sky of Mahul

In June 2018, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has shut down two refineries in
Mahul as they had been releasing untreated chemicals in Mahul creek. This action was taken
after there were multiple complaints and concerns from residents who have time and again
been disappointed by the lack of concern shown by the government.

Mumbai’s Rehabilitation Hellhole

Why were/are people forced to shift in this ‘TOXIC HELLHOLE’- Mahul?

 Photo courtesy: youtube.com

In the course of recent years, the Brihanmumbai city organization (BMC) has moved more than
30,000 of the city's poorest natives to Mahul from illicit settlements in Powai, Ghatkopar, Chembur,
Vakola and Bandra (East). The majority of the occupants of these territories were compelled to move
in the previous ​eighteen months, when the ​BMC destroyed their homes as per a 2009
Bombay high court arrange ordering a 10m secure passageway along the length of the
water pipeline going through the city​. They came to Mahul amped up for their new lives in
a modern complex, anticipating that it should be vastly improved than the ghettos and
settlements in which they were living. In reality, however, they found themselves trapped in
crumbling buildings, miles away from their workplaces, with not a municipal school or
government hospital in sight. ​On May 13, almost 1,000 houses close to the Tansa water
pipeline in Ghatkopar and Vidyavihar in Mumbai were demolished to the ground by
the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation​. The state can claim that they have been
‘rehabilitated’, as the people residing in these areas have been moved to Mumbai
Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) buildings in Mahul, where they
have been living since June 12. But even the flimsiest definition of rehabilitation cannot
describe the adversities and plight of these families due to the changes that they have
experienced in the last six months.
Mahul ​is amongst the most industrial dense locations. 3 of the nation’s oldest and largest
refineries​, ​one of the largest fertilizer producing complex of RCF and Tata’s many
thermal power turbine units are all located there. ​Additionally Mahul has amongst the
largest storing facility for process chemicals, many of which are listed as carcinogenic.
More than ​hundred people have already died in Mahul in a period of three years​. Most
of them became ill after being forcibly relocated here and contracted illness from the extreme
pollution and became incurably sick and many eventually died and yet the ​Mumbai
Government on 11th July , guaranteed the High Court that the place is completely safe
and habitable for its residents. These statements are fraudulent and the government has
contradicted its own previous statements and studies.
.
MUMBAI BPCL FIRE:BPCL WORKERS
RECOUNT HORROR

A Major fire ​Broke out in the ​Bharat Petroleum Plant in Mahul on 8th August at 2:45
pm​.Fire and blast in hydrocarbon plant containing 72-ton hydrocarbon used for diesel
generation in cacking vacuum gas oil caused damage to the nearby plants. All plants were
depressurized, cooled and shut for safety reasons.The remaining hydrocarbon was kept under
a controlled burning process until the hydrocarbons were exhausted. A total of 41 people
were injured​, who were treated at the ​BPCL hospital.

The ​workers who witnessed the explosion at the BPCL plant have gone into a
state of shock, ​recounting the horror. The eyewitness is barely able to forget the impact
of the explosion they witnessed. “I am still in a state of shock as I feel I am listening to
the sounds of the blast. My ears are echoing with the buzzing sound and I cannot sit
still,” said a worker.

Saut Sheikh (left) and Philip Kurien(right) are two of the workers injured during the
blast
Image courtesy: TIMES OF INDIA
 Water pollution along the Mahul Creek of
Mumbai
The study on pollution status along the Mahul creek of Mumbai performed for the
period of one year from January 2013 to December 2013 revealed untold horrors. ​The
samples were collected in polythene bottles of 2.5 L along different locations of the creek.
The bottles were thoroughly cleaned with hydrochloric acid, washed with distilled water to
render free of acid, rinsed with the water sample to be collected and then filled with the
sample leaving only a small air gap at the top. The sample bottles were sealed with paraffin
wax. Such samples were drawn and analysed monthly for the entire year. ​The samples were
analyzed for their physico-chemical parameters so as to get the seasonal variation in
pollution level along the Mahul Creek.

As mentioned before the results were catastrophically dreadful.

The experimental data on physico-chemical properties of the water samples collected along
the Mahul Creek of Mumbai is presented in Table 1.

Sampling Months/Year Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

Physico-
Chemical Parameters

Temperature ( °C) 25.6 25.6 29.3 29.1 29.1 27.0 28.2 27.4 27.0 25.6 26.0 25.2

pH value 6.98 7.10 6.90 7.30 7.00 6.56 6.56 6.22 6.54 7.20 6.88 7.21

Table 1. Physico-Chemical Properties of the Mahul Creek water

Mumbai’s ‘GREEN ARMOUR” under threat

Photo Courtesy: Hindustan Times
 Oil and effluents spell slow death for Mumbai creeks
Photo courtesy: Times of India

The creek water can be considered unfit for drinking and irrigation purpose because-

➢ The annual average TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) content of the Creek water was
found to be 4199.5 ppm which was very much above the conductivity limit of
2100 ppm deemed desirable for inland surface water.

➢ On the basis of TDS values, waters can be classified as, desirable for drinking
(up to 500 mg/L), permissible for drinking (up to 1,000 mg/L), useful for
irrigation (up to 2,000 mg/L), not useful for drinking and irrigation (above 3,000
mg/L).Therefore the creek water can be considered unfit for drinking and
irrigation purpose.

➢ The annual average COD (Chemical oxygen Demand) was calculated as 362.09
ppm which was more than the maximum tolerable COD level of 250 ppm set for
inland surface water as well as for marine coastal water.

➢ The electrical conductivity of creek water was in the range of 4464.56 to 7334.01
µS cm-1 . The annual average conductivity was found to be 6122.81 µS cm-1
which was very much above the conductivity limit for inland surface water of
1000 µS cm-1 for propagation of fisheries

➢ The higher values of hardness and alkalinity indicate the presence of basic salts –
sodium and potassium in addition to those of calcium and magnesium.

➢ The presence of harmful chemicals like phosphate, cyanide and fluoride indicate
how detrimental the water is for human consumption.
 PLIGHT OF THE INHABITANTS OF
MAHUL

➔ Living in a gas chamber

Mahul is a heavily-industrialised area with Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum

refineries operating there, along with other industries like Sea Lord Containers, Aegis
Logistics Ltd, Tata Power and Rashtriya Chemical and Fertilizers​. ​The air in Mahul is thick
and pungent with emissions from these industries. Ever since their arrival, the erstwhile
residents of Mahul have been plagued by illnesses. They are rapidly losing hair. The
corrosive environment is acting on their skin, the effects of which can be seen in the form of
pimple-like growths or dark patches. They complain of stinging in their eyes and
burning in their throats​. Adding to the deteriorating health of the residents is the ​poor
quality of water supplied in the buildings. ​At times, the water even has a layer of oil on it.
Several residents have ​suffered stomach infections from consuming the contaminated
water. ​Illness hangs heavy in the air they breathe and the water they drink.

The MMRDA building complex with a storage unit of Sealord Enterprises near it.
Credit: Sayan Bhattacharjee

➔ Stranded and unemployed

This area has no municipal hospital and the residents travel to Rajawadi Hospital in
Ghatkopar, which is 11 km away. ​This brings to the fore another major issue of the area –
lack of connectivity through the city’s train network. The nearest convenient stations are
Chembur and Kurla – which are eight and 12 km away, respectively.. ​This lack of
connectivity has proven to be crippling in an area which has little to offer in the way of
employment and education to the relocated people.
‘Rehabilitating’ the residents 12 km away from their original settlement to a place with poor
transport connectivity has made them lose access to their earlier jobs. ​Most of the residents
are currently out of work.

Absolute hell: the toxic outpost where Mumbai's poorest are 'sent to die
Credit: The Guardian

➔ Expendable education, expendable lives

Mahul as there are no municipal schools in the area. Many children continue to study in
schools in Ghatkopar due to the lack of accessible schools in the area. Mothers accompany
their young children to school on buses and wait nearby until it's time to take them back
home, as they lack the money to commute to and fro multiple times. ​The additional cost of
commuting means that they have no other option but to miss school often, sometimes
for days on end.
These are not minor details of their lives. ​By transplanting them here, the state has
essentially cut 5,000 people off from employment, education and a basic standard of
health.

CONCLUSION
The plight of Mahul and its denizens is not an uncommon one in a rapidly developing country
like India. ​Here, industrial pollution can be described as a ‘common man problem’
where the social cost of any form of development is borne by the most destitute and
downtrodden members of the socio - economic hierarchy​. Similar, is the story of the
financial capital of India wherein development is crushing its poorest citizens​.

Rehabilitation of slum dwellers can be perceived as one such social cost, as witnessed in the
case of Mahul. ​The former fishing village to the east of India’s great metropolis is now
home to 30,000 people who were “rehabilitated” after their slum homes were
demolished to make way for infrastructure projects.

Ideally, rehabilitation should mean that people's’ standard of living is increased or at

least maintained. But in Mahul the authorities have dumped thousands of people without
any consideration for their most basic needs. ​They’ve been provided with cement walls and
nothing else. ​The smoke belching chimneys, pungent smell of chemicals in the air,
overflowing sewage and drainage lines and contaminated water speaks volumes about the
detrimental conditions the residents of village are put through in the living hell. ​The
respiratory problems, skin rashes, heart problems and increase in blood pressure tell
their own tale: ​“It’s the government’s way of telling us that they’ve sent us here to die.”says
Anita Dhole, a 40-year-old who was relocated to Mahul.
The questions one needs to ask are that, ​‘​Is merely moving people to a room with four
walls and a roof rehabilitation?’ ​and ​‘Is the government deaf to their far sounding cries
of help?’

Mahul is a stark case of how the existing idea and implementation of slum rehabilitation
is completely flawed in our administrative system. Most often, corruption, political
swindles, and a dearth of compassion towards the penniless gives rise to such discriminatory
and unfair actions on part of government. ​So indubitably, it becomes the government’s
responsibility to furbish the residents with a better standard of living. ​Concurrently, the
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board should put a cap on the industries inhabiting Mahul by
releasing strict mandates that favour more environment friendly conditions.
Meanwhile, they have been inhabiting the Mahul complex for the last six months. They
refuse to accept it as their home and demand better for themselves. ​They are currently
gathering
their resources and preparing to go to court against the unlivable conditions that the state has
imposed upon them and the political manipulation that they claim they have been subjected
to.

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BY PRAVIN UTTAM SINGARE,
M.V.A ANSARI,
N.N DIXIT
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AT BHAVAN'S COLLEGE
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