We have a right to breathe clean air !

Ask CM Fadnavis to remove the coal mountains in the heart of Mumbai, that are destroying our lungs

The facts :

• Over the past year alone, 1.8 million tonnes of coal were unloaded and stacked in Mountains of Coal, at Haji Bunder, in the heart of Mumbai.

• Colaba, Marine Drive, Churchgate, Malabar Hill, Kemps Corner, Mahalaxmi, Haji Ali, Worli, Prabha Devi, Dadar, Parel, Shivaji Park, Matunga, Wadala, Sewri, Byculla, Mazgaon, Mahim, Bandra and Mantralaya, all lie within 7 kms from these coal mountains.
• Coal dust from here is carried by the sea breeze to every home in Mumbai.
• This Coal dust causes black lung disease - and irreversible damage to your lungs.
• It causes respiratory diseases like sinusitis, bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, emphysema, and lung cancer.
• A survey conducted by the International Institute of Respiratory Studies (IIPS) stated 89.6 % of the deaths of people living in the slums of Mumbai are due to respiratory diseases.
• We all breathe the same air and no matter where we live or how much we earn, we are all equally at risk. There are no surveys as yet for housing societies.
• None of this coal is meant for Mumbai. It is imported from Indonesia and Australia for Mahagenco's power plant in Bhusaval 455 Kms from Mumbai.
• The pollution caused by handling & transportation of coal, has devastated the environment and polluted our air, water and soil.
• 15-20% of the coal imported is estimated to be lost due to dissipation through the air, spillage & pilferage. 
• This wastage of coal and the transportation to Bhusaval, are an added expense for Mahagenco - resulting in higher electricity costs for consumers across Maharashtra.

Solutions :

• Surat has modern coal handling facilities, and is about 100 Kms closer to Bhusaval than Mumbai
• It is closer and more efficient to import coal for Mahagenco from here
• Dharamtar Port in Raigad district also has spare capacity to handle coal 

Our Actions :

• Following up on our Petition last year, Vice Admiral IC Rao and I have filed a second petition in the High Court, asking that MPCB be restrained from granting permission to MBPT for extending Coal Handling upto 2017
• In September 2014 we filed a similar petition to stop coal handling in Mumbai Port because of the risk to the environment and health of the people of Mumbai.
• The High Court directed the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to investigate and take appropriate action.
• After a year of persistent follow up, MPCB finally acknowledged their failure to protect the environment and in August 2015, renewed Permission for Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) to handle coal, but only until 31st October 2015.
• As a result, on 4 September 2015, the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) issued a public notice, to all concerned parties to stop coal handling with effect from 24 September 2015. This was a victory for the health and environment of Mumbai !
• However, thereafter, on 9 Oct 2015, MPCB decided to extend permission for coal handling till 2017.
• In Court on 11 Dec 2015, MBPT admitted that they cannot meet Pollution control norms for proper coal handling and denied they had asked MPCB for permission !

The Court has taken a stern view of the matter and we are awaiting further hearings and their final order.

If coal handling could resumes at Haji Bunder everyone loses.

• Every resident of Mumbai loses because each of us is at a greater risk from respiratory diseases 
• Mumbai loses because our environment is unnecessarily polluted
• Mahagenco loses because of the wastage and pilferage of coal

So who gains ? It appears no one does - except for certain vested interests who are profiting from coal handling at the cost of our health.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Min of Environment Ramdas Kadam should have no reason to overturn MbPT's decision to stop handling coal in Mumbai. 

 As we keep talking of Swachh Bharat, please sign this petition so that our Bureaucrats and Politicians are held accountable for their actions. Let us make them pledge that they will not further blacken the lungs of Mumbai and place our lives and the lives of our children at risk