Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

For many Mumbaikars, ‘air pollution’ is a Delhi or at most a North Indian problem. Yet, Mumbai air itself says otherwise on many a day. But are city authorities really aware and equipped to take the steps they need to?

For decades, waste has been Mumbai’s teeming, unsolvable problem. Slums around the city’s dumping ground are now Asia’s largest, exposing ragpickers and the general population to serious health risks. All plans and commitments to waste management, meanwhile, appear figurative.

Mumbai currently sources 3.8 billion litres of water per day from seven dams built over lakes in neighbouring districts. It is also familiar with seasonal water cuts. But why does a city with abundant monsoons and flooding every year have such unstable water supply?