No pedestrian bridge, first clean Mithi river: Union environment ministry

Mumbai: The Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) has turned down the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) proposal seeking to build India’s longest suspension bridge for pedestrians across the Mithi River, citing a highly degraded condition of the water body. A committee of the ministry has also sought a detailed plan as to how the MMRDA plans to clean up the river and the surrounding mangroves on the project site before it can reconsider the proposal.

The ₹116-crore bridge is proposed to connect Bandra-Kurla Complex with Sion-Dharavi via Mahim Nature Park, significantly reducing travel time for people commuting from the east to west in this neighbourhood. It will have the capacity to accommodate around 1,000 commuters at any given time and was also planned to serve as a destination for birdwatching and mangrove tourism.

Though the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) cleared the project in March, the ministry’s expert appraisal committee (EAC) last month remarked that it “could not see the value of this purpose considering the extremely polluted nature of the river.” It also noted that the presence of the bridge could, instead, “facilitate disposal of more garbage directly into the river.”

MMRDA’s original plans also include a restaurant and viewing deck offering a ‘bird’s eye view’ of mangroves around Mithi river and Mahim Nature Park, which is spread across an area of 37 acres. Around 48,222 square feet of land will be required from Mahim Nature Park to build the structure.

With a proposed length of 506 metres, the bridge will be the world’s fourth longest suspension bridge meant exclusively for pedestrians. The longest such pedestrian structure is 721-metre-long Sky Bridge in Czech Republic, followed by Baglung Parbat Footbridge that crosses Kali Gandaki river in Nepal, which is 567 metres long and Arouca Bridge in Portugal, which measures 516 metres.

It should be noted that the Mithi Rejuvenation Project has not achieved any significant results in terms of pollution control even 18 years after it was launched. The MMRDA and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have so far spent ₹1,150 crore on the project. The civic body is yet to issue tenders for Phase-3 of the project, including laying 7.6 kms of sewers along with 28 sewage interceptors. The river originated in Powai from where it undertakes an 18-km-long journey into the Arabian Sea via Mahim Creek, passing through Kalina, BKC and Dharavi.

To justify the project, the MMRDA last year carried out a preference survey of residents living around BKC and Mahim Nature Park. In a note to the forest department, the MMRDA submitted, “Survey has been conducted for more than 100 samples who are a majority of residents near BKC and Mahim Nature Park. A majority of commuters travel daily from BKC to Sion station and vice versa through existing roads, in which almost 70% are travelling through autorickshaws or private vehicles. Only 25% prefer local buses or trains. Of all samples, 89% are interested in using the upcoming pedestrian suspension bridge as their daily commuting route.”

An MMRDA engineer working on the project, without speaking in much detail, said, “We will submit the river cleanup plan as per the instructions of the MoEFCC and place our proposal before them for consideration again.”

Meanwhile, environmentalists have raised alarm at removing mangroves from the flood-prone Mithi’s banks. Stalin D, director of NGO Vanashakti, which has been campaigning for protection of mangroves, said, “Perforation of mangroves will lead to more flooding in the area. It is ironic that a project that is being built to offer citizens a view of mangroves also involves their diversion. Two acres may seem a small number, but in an ecology that is already under immense pressure such developments cannot be taken lightly.”