BMC identifies 74 vulnerable landslide-prone areas in Mumbai

Out of 160 landslide-prone areas in the city, the BMC has now identified 74 vulnerable ones, comprising natural hillocks and elevated lands

Mumbai: Out of 160 landslide-prone areas in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now identified 74 vulnerable ones, comprising natural hillocks and elevated lands.

Mumbai, India - April 18, 2024:Fag end of Rajabali Lane, Bhulabhai Desai, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

Fifteen of the 74 high-risk sections are in Ghatkopar (N ward) alone, followed by nine in Kurla (L ward) and five in areas like Babulnath, Forjett Hill, Tardeo, Nepeansea Road and the end of Rajabai lane opposite Breach Candy hospital (D ward).

The eastern suburbs are home to the highest number of vulnerable sections at 45, compared with 16 in the island city and 13 in the western suburbs. Areas in Kurla, Mankhurd, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg and Mulund are densely populated with slums and shanties, making them vulnerable during the monsoon due to the steep terrain.

After a massive landslide killed 151 people in the village of Malin in the Pune district in July 2017, the Geological Survey of India inspected landslide-prone areas and gave its recommendations, said an official from BMC’s disaster management cell. “Most landowners in Mumbai where shanties and slums are built are [district] collectors or Mhada. Mhada and the public works department jointly work to comply with the survey findings of GSI, and also make arrangements for people who will be affected.”

Landslide-prone areas have been classified into high, medium, and low-risk zones, with estimates of the population affected in each zone. The civic official said BMC’s disaster management cell is training and sensitising locals about landslide warnings and how they can run for shelter.

After a boulder fell near a slum settlement near Valmiki Nagar in Ghatkopar on April 13, the BMC removed a few hutment structures located on top of a hill. Residents were shifted to temporary accommodation and moved back to their settlements later.