The city of Mumbai and its adjoining suburbs are no longer a metropolis. It is now a megapolis. The two divisions of Mumbai district, and the 18++ cities north of the district, in Thane and Raigad districts are one of the world's largest urban conglomerations. Perhaps, it is the world's largest ever in terms of population density, total population and ground area coverage. Moreover, this is also the world's fastest growing urban area, with buildings growing taller and small mini-cities becoming more intensely dense. Some buildings have about 12-15 floors of parking, before one can reach the apartments.
Thane, Kalyan-Dombivili and Ulhasnagar are, to use the cliche, choc-a-bloc, next to each other. One pavement belongs to one city, while the other pavement of the same road belongs to the other. These suburban areas, now major cities on their own right, have hill ranges around them, and within them. This is something that Mumbai does not have adequately. The entire water for Mumbai comes from dams in the Western Ghats beyond Thane city and along the Thane-Pune-Nashik ridges. But, if one would have planned right, and understood the drainage patterns and aquifer strength of the hills and watershed within Thane and Kalyan areas, the sustainable strength of these hills would have been clearly known.
Today, one can actually see huge pipelines transporting water past the suburbs of Thane and the outskirts of Kalyan, with huge housing colonies in the shadow of some of the best water catchment and storage potential areas. Thus, it is the rural and forest communities elsewhere who have to discard their rights over their forest lands in order to store water for the new and rapid growth of urban clusters of Mumbai and Thane. Remember, all well meaning activists and residents of Mumbai who get worked up over the destruction of environment - every single apartment building and institution in the megapolis survives by drowning the Sahyadri forests and slopes. Every single one.
Thane, Kalyan-Dombivili and Ulhasnagar are, to use the cliche, choc-a-bloc, next to each other. One pavement belongs to one city, while the other pavement of the same road belongs to the other. These suburban areas, now major cities on their own right, have hill ranges around them, and within them. This is something that Mumbai does not have adequately. The entire water for Mumbai comes from dams in the Western Ghats beyond Thane city and along the Thane-Pune-Nashik ridges. But, if one would have planned right, and understood the drainage patterns and aquifer strength of the hills and watershed within Thane and Kalyan areas, the sustainable strength of these hills would have been clearly known.
Today, one can actually see huge pipelines transporting water past the suburbs of Thane and the outskirts of Kalyan, with huge housing colonies in the shadow of some of the best water catchment and storage potential areas. Thus, it is the rural and forest communities elsewhere who have to discard their rights over their forest lands in order to store water for the new and rapid growth of urban clusters of Mumbai and Thane. Remember, all well meaning activists and residents of Mumbai who get worked up over the destruction of environment - every single apartment building and institution in the megapolis survives by drowning the Sahyadri forests and slopes. Every single one.
