Indian government needs to look out for a new capital of Maharashtra as Mumbai can no longer be.
"Hey!! How the hell can you say this?? You know who my father is " - Snaps a random Marathi with a proud Tilak on his forehead.
"This is the land of Shivaji. We will cut you in thousand pieces and make Ramla Vada paw out of you" - another proud Mumbaiker grabs my collar with one hand and the bar handle of local train in another hand.
"But Bhau." I started to justify with a big gulp of water down my throat "... do you really think Mumbai will be there in 2050?"
"Ata majhi satakli da" - I got smacked and thrown out of train.
Yes!! Mumbai will be submerged by the end of 2050, at least that's what the present rising sea levels suggest.
Nearly 80 percent of the southern tip, including Nariman Point and Mantralaya, the seat of power of Maharashtra, will be under water by then. This is an area where banks, foreign consulate offices, corporate houses and political parties are located. The iconic Wankhede Stadium, Marine Drive and the National Center for Performing Arts are only in this area. This is primarily artificial soil, obtained from the Arabian Sea in the 1970s. If we don't wake up [to the dangers of climate change], it will be a dangerous situation for the next 25 years, Chahal said. [The effects of climate change] such as melting glaciers [and rising sea levels] have arrived at our doorstep.
India's World Resources Institute (WRI) has identified some worrying trends in its assessment of Mumbai's vulnerability to climate change Mumbai is warming and has seen a substantial increase in extreme rainfall over the past few years. Since 2007, temperatures have been steadily rising. Since then, there has also been a substantial increase in heavy rainfall as well as storm events.
The data with WRI states that the number of days in which Mumbai faces situations requiring extreme caution has been increasing. These are defined as per the guidelines by National Weather Service, USa caution day is one in which the temperature is between 26-32oC. When it varies between 32-43oC the situation is considered as an extreme caution day. Mumbai sees 174 caution days and 187 extreme caution days per year.
As the climate change is mainly attributed to loss of green cover and housing density the BMC is also planning to increase the green cover in the city.
On September 1, the Maharashtra government also decided to form a state level climate change committee under Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to deal with the challenges. The committee will suggest measures based on five points reducing, refusing, reusing, recycling and recovering.
Anyway, I need to catch a new local train to Vashi again!!!
Great article Mr.Badri !!!