Celebrating the Mithi

Across the globe, the last Sunday of September every year is celebrated as ‘World Rivers Day’. Well, I really don’t know if we in Mumbai have any reason to celebrate when it comes to rivers, given the fact that our rivers in Mumbai are in such a pathetic state – especially the Mithi that flows through a significant part of the city. At best, this putrefied flowing embarrassment – that sets out from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali, and 18 kms later meets the Arabian Sea at the Mahim Creek – can be described as a sewer. 

So what has caused this once delightful river to have metamorphosed into this disgusting sewer? As India’s ‘Waterman’ and Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh pointed out, “It is the collective apathy of the people of Mumbai, absence of political will, and administrative lethargy, that are all responsible for the current oppressive state of the Mithi”.  

“Collective Apathy”, how true – for indeed ‘indifference’ is our middle name. This collective indifference, springs from our Collective Ignorance. I wonder how many of us living in this chaotic megapolis are even aware of the existence of the Mithi. Probably we are just vaguely conscious that some river called the Mithi flows through the city; but do we even know its course, or would be able to actually point it out? Two years back we did a programme called ‘Meet the Mithi’ – on seeing the poster announcing the event, someone wrote to me asking “What is a mithi?” Our ignorance obviously breeds indifference.

And then there is our Collective Indiscipline. We litter, we dump garbage, we pollute, we destroy and we care a damn! In fact this has got so crystallized into our character that we don’t even realize the damage we are causing. And so we go about callously converting the Mithi into a filth stream. From the religious devotee who piously flings the ‘flower offerings’ (plastic bag and all) into the river, to the unscrupulous factory owner who pumps hazardous industrial waste into it; from the hardworking housewives washing clothes of the banks of the Mithi, to the hundreds of nearby inhabitants who blissfully crap into it every day – this gross indiscipline has turned Mumbai’s best known river into a grisly gutter.

But no, we've not reached the end of the road, or rather, the end of the river. People like Janak Daftari, Rishi Agarwal and Gautam Kirtane have been fighting the Mithi battle for long. And on World Rivers Day we celebrate their determination, their fight. And hopefully their fight will become our fight too. 

CSR and the Environment

The Parliament recently passed the Companies Bill, which will now replace the Companies Act of 1956. This new law makes it mandatory for companies to spend 2 percent of their profit on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Of course, this refers only to companies with a net profit of more than Rs 5 crore. It is heartening that even before this law was enacted, companies have been voluntarily spending on CSR projects. While projects related to education, health and women’s empowerment have been hot favourites in the CSR sector, environmental projects have recently been gaining popularity. With CSR now becoming mandatory for corporate biggies, I guess, or at least I hope, there will be even greater commitment towards addressing the social and environmental issues we are facing.

In terms of the environment, I would believe that the first step in exercising responsibility would be for companies to engage in a sincere and serious green audit of themselves. They would need to examine the environmental impact of the goods and services they produce, a review of their production and marketing processes, a thorough assessment of their own ecological footprint. Obviously, the objective of this exercise is not just to know the amount of environmental damage the company is causing (no company is going to put money on the table to dig out its faults), but rather to determine how this damage can be reduced or minimized.

Further, it would definitely be worthwhile for companies to invest part of their CSR funds into eco-friendly technologies. Solar power, for example, would be an area to be explored. Given the fact that all companies consume huge amounts of energy, be it in their production plants or corporate offices, moving over to solar energy would definitely be a step in the right direction. Similarly, in terms of water, creating rainwater harvesting structures or constructing grey-water recycling plants, would be highly beneficial. Investing in good waste management systems is yet another avenue to considered.

And yes, donating CSR funds to meaningful environmental projects is crucial. Often companies approach environmental organizations, asking them to hold some ‘symbolic event’ such as a tree plantation or clean-up drive. Sizable funds are poured into these events that produce no results – except good photographs that can be published in the company’s annual report. It is time to move from the ‘symbolic’ to the ‘significant’, funding projects that significantly impact the environment. These ‘significant projects’ are not ‘events’ that can he conducted in a single afternoon, they need time, but in the end, they make a difference. 

Let's hope we see some 'responsibility' exercised as the companies go about acting on the demands of this new 'Responsibility Act'!  

BMC Flops Again

We are almost at the end of July – the month that was supposed to witness Mumbai sprucing up. But the BMC has flopped again!  

In February this year, the BMC had solemnly announced that it would make segregation of dry and wet waste at source compulsory from July. Flexing its muscles over the issue, the BMC had declared that it would stop accepting mixed waste. Taking an even further aggressive stance, the civic authority had threatened to slap huge fines on defaulters and to punish repeated non-compliance with imprisonment. On its side, the BMC had promised to put in place all the infrastructure needed, press into service additional collection compactors and upgrade segregation centres.

Well, July is almost over, and none of this has been implemented. Instead, as it happens all the time, we have been dished out a new set of promises, another package of plans, and a further revised schedule. We have now been told by Manisha Mhaiskar (Additional Municipal Commissioner) that segregation at source and house-to-house collection of waste will be implemented by March 2014 and that separate disposal and treatment mechanisms for dry and wet waste will be put in place by March 2015.

So what is our reaction to this recurrent delay in implementing a proper waste management system in the city? Are we heaving a collective sigh of relief that we have been spared the task, at least for the present, of segregating our waste? Are we just glad that we can continue to dump our waste as we want and where we want? Or are we seriously upset that we have to wait for another year or two, before we have a more decent and sensible system of handling our waste.

But actually we don’t have to wait. It’s true that the BMC has deferred the enforcement of the law, but what stops us from enforcing it upon our homes and our housing societies? ALMs, for example, could take up the responsibility of setting up workable waste management systems in their respective localities.

And let’s keep the pressure on the BMC to deliver – for unless the infrastructure is in place, our own efforts will only have limited value. 

Reviving Trees, Reviving Synergy

The ‘Tree Revival’ session at Bandra this morning was certainly a motivating experience.  The ‘Tree Revival Campaign’ is a joint effort by the Environmental Management Centre (EMC) and GreenLine to revive an interest in trees among citizens and also to revive Mumbai’s tree cover. The session this morning witnessed the presence of students from six Bandra schools, several ALM leaders, and some of Mumbai’s well known ‘tree experts’, including Rishi Agarwal, Reene Vyas and Katie Bagli.

What I found particularly interesting was the animated interaction among the young students, society leaders and environmentalists.  Watching the lively discussion happening among these different groups, the word that kept coming to my mind was ‘Synergy’.  The energy of the kids, the commitment of the leaders and the passion of the environmentalists blended perfectly together for this cause of ‘tree revival’.  While the ALM leaders were keen on protecting and enhancing the green cover in their localities, the environmentalists were more than happy to provide all the expert insights needed to support this cause. And of course, the kids were thrilled to throw in their efforts, to ensure that this mission is accomplished.

Well, the Tree Revival Campaign has definitely revived the connections among various citizens and groups – now that’s already a good first result! Let’s hope the synergy that has been created takes this campaign zooming forward! 

Chew and Chuck!

A couple of days back I took the ‘Intercity Express’ to Pune. In fact, it’s a train I usually travel by when I need to get from Mumbai to Pune. The timing is most convenient, you catch the Intercity at Dadar at 7.00 a.m. and you are in Pune just three hours later.  The timing also makes it a ‘breakfast train’ – you have a chain of vendors continually dishing out a variety of delicacies from idli sambar to vada pav. And yes, you have the chai and coffee wallahs briskly pouring their brew from steaming kettles, offering you yet another cup, each time you are done with a sabudana vada or a veg samosa.

As the train hurried along its way, I sat looking at the munching passengers – the clip-clopping of the train had got them into a happy rhythm too, chew and chuck... chew and chuck! Disposable plates and cups, plastic bags and paper napkins, aluminium cans and laminated sachets... all sent sailing merrily through the window!

When the lady sitting opposite me was about to chuck her refuse out of the window, I viciously grabbed it out of her hand. She gave me a horrified look, probably thinking I was some kind of psychopath, who had the fetish of collecting discarded waste!

Well, I don’t want to get into a discussion on how we have developed this appalling habit of compulsive littering, as though the entire country was one huge waste bin. But the question I want to raise is, why doesn't the Indian Railways provide waste bins in every compartment, or at least in every coach? In the total absence of such bins, the only option is to cheerfully chuck your waste through the window. To expect us litterati to cling to our waste till we reach a station, and then go looking for a bin on the platform, is asking for the impossible!

I am contemplating writing to the Railway Minister, requesting him to introduce bins in all long-distance passenger trains, but whether he will pay any heed, is a million dollar question! Any other bright ideas?