New pan-Sobo residents group discusses pollution issues with govt reps

MUMBAI: The South Mumbai Residents Association met to discuss pollution issues, highlighting construction and vehicular pollution as major concerns.

MUMBAI: Saturday saw the first meeting of a new SoBo coalition: the South Mumbai Residents Association, an umbrella body of residents’ groups from Colaba to Worli to Sewri. Helmed by Shiv Sena leaders Susieben Shah and Milind Deora, its first topic of discussion unsurprisingly was pollution, given minister Nitesh Rane’s recent letter hinting at commercial activities on the Coastal Road’s open spaces.

Mumbai, India, Mar 29, 2025:The South Mumbai Residents' Association held a public meeting at Priyadarshni Park to discuss pollution and environmental concerns in South Mumbai. The meeting featured Siddhesh Kadam, Chairman of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, and Milind Deora, Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, who addressed the residents and collaborated on beneficial initiatives for the area. Mumbai, India. Mar 29, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)

Shah, who is also the general secretary of the Malabar Hills Citizens Forum, held the meeting at Priyadarshini Park. “There is a great need for us SoBo residents to convene and solve the issues we face, bringing policy makers and politicians who have been voted into power for our cause,” she said to the audience.

Deora, underscoring the seriousness of the pollution problem, added, “Air pollution is not only giving us respiratory issues but reducing our lifespans. The city’s rising AQI is one of the most burning issues we face today. We are launching this association to have regular stakeholder consultations on South Mumbai’s residents’ problems.”

As the topic for discussion was pollution, Siddesh Kadam, chairman of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), had been invited. “As someone who was born and brought up in Bombay, I have seen it grow,” he said. “And this development has inevitably brought pollution. So the question is where and how to strike the balance. The Coastal Road has helped reduce travel time greatly but at what cost?” Kadam acknowledged that there were gaps in the implementation of the MPCB’s policies.

With this, the floor was opened to the residents.

“Unregulated construction is the biggest cause of air pollution,” said Vijay Datwani from the High-Rise Societies Federation of Parel-Sewri-Lalbaug. “Construction sites and trucks are never covered, thickening the air with dust and cement. The air pollution mitigation rules are not enforced.”

Sudhir Behl, a resident of Altamount Road, put the construction mania down to greed. “There are countless buildings in good shape, needing only repairs, which are going in for redevelopment because the residents want bigger and bigger homes,” he said, all fired up. In response, Kadam said a policy to regulate and limit redevelopment projects was in the works.

Vehicular pollution was another concern, voiced by Aditi Jain of the Colaba-Cuffe Parade Residents Association. “Our area has many commercial spaces so we see an influx of vehicles all day long,” she said. “There are no parking spaces left, which means vehicles keep taking rounds, adding to the pollution and noise pollution.”

Armed with a solution was Nandini Chhabria from the Breach Candy Residents Forum. “The sea has been taken away from us, and we’ve been given pollution and respiratory issues in return,” she said. “But we have a great opportunity here to turn the Coastal Road’s open spaces into a forest park which will reduce the pollution and heat.”

This dream was called into doubt by architect Rahul Kadri of the Nepean Sea Road Citizen’s Forum. “Initially the BMC involved us in the making of the plans for the open spaces,” he said. “But they have now privatised their development. We have no idea what will come up there.” While Deora and Kadam gave an assurance that only open spaces would prevail, uncertainty still hung in the air.

Noise pollution also emerged as a troubling feature, with complaints of late-night construction and noisy religious celebrations. Water pollution was also touched upon, with the slow construction of the city’s sewage treatment plants.