The Chennai floods were a warning to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that Mumbai too could witness a similar situation. Activists have alleged that the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966 mandates the marking of flood buffer zones in the development plan (DP). The BMC has, however, not marked such buffer zones in the proposed DP of (2014-2034) by the BMC.
Buffer zone is a neutral area where land is designated for environmental purposes to build gardens or playgrounds. However, a buffer zone has different meanings in different context.
Godfrey Pimenta, activist, Bombay East Indian Association, alleged, “Slum dwellers have encroached the land on the banks of Dahisar river, Mithi river, Oshiwara river and Poisar river. Due to these encroachments, when there is a flood-like situation in the city, the water gets collected in the city and does not disperse into the rivers. This is one of the reasons behind the city witnessing floods in July 2005.”
According to the Indian Meteorological Department’s website, one of the reason why Chennai witnessed floods is because it failed to prevent encroachments on the banks of Adyar river and Cooum river, which it said was supposed to act as the main source for rain water drainage in Chennai. It also further states that IT corridors and knowledge corridors consisting of engineering colleges were also constructed on the banks of rivers in Chennai.
Nicholas Almedia, activist, Watchdog Foundation, said, “If the law mandates to have buffer zone on the river banks, why has the BMC ignored it Also, if municipal corporations in Thane and Nashik can follow the law in marking buffer zones for rivers in their DP, why can’t BMC do the same ”
