RDDP 2034: Buffer zones to flank water bodies

The residents and commercial establishments in the periphery of rivers, creeks, nullahs and large water pipelines can soon expect an eviction notice from MCGM. The Revised Draft Development Plan (RDDP) 2034 has made provision to create a non-development ‘Buffer Zone’ on a six metre periphery of either side of the water bodies. The strategy is planned to mitigate the flood vulnerability during high tides, by permitting water bodies to flood their banks, but officials said the eviction would take at least 20 years more to materialise because of the lack of a concrete strategy to carry out the displacement operations.

The officials, pointing out the heavy rains of 944 mm and 1,011 mm respectively in Mumbai and Vihar between the afternoon of July 26 and 27, confirmed that the draining capacity of the city was much weaker than the precipitation, which resulted in severe water logging cases. The officials said the city has several low-lying areas that are prone to seasonal flooding whenever heavy rainfall coincides with high tides.

As Buffer Zones, as proposed by RDDP 2034, are to be maintained as development-free zones, they are supposed to help reduce flooding risks by permitting water bodies to flood their banks without affecting people. Ramanath Jha, officer on special futy, Development Plan Revised, said that the environmental reports post 2005 floods were the core at creating the buffer.

“The primary intention is to free the water bodies and create space for water during high tides. At the same time, once the buffers are created successfully, they will also be opened for people, acting as public open spaces (POS) along with their use for environmental maintenance. We are marking the space as POS to prevent any further development in the area,” said Mr Jha. The move is supposed to add vast POS as only creating buffer around the Tansa Pipe line, as per RDDP 2034 provides 26,400sq.m. of POS.

When asked about the displacement strategy of MCGM to create the buffer zones, Mr Jha confirmed they are yet to come up with a strategy to reclaim the land from residential and commercial set ups.

Calling RDDP 2034 a “half-hearted attempt,” senior environmentalist and activist Rishi Agarwal said that before forming long-term strategies, the BMC should first start from working on strengthening its sewerage facility.

“There are formal settlements alongside the nullahs and pipelines, shifting which would be a very difficult task. If the purpose is to prevent water logging, the BMC needs to focus on the garbage disposal and effective sewerage treatment. These long-term plans can come in picture when the basics are in place,” said Mr Agarwal.