Mumbai: India’s commercial capital has the dubious distinction of being a city with one of the lowest levels of environment management. As the world celebrates World Environment Day tomorrow, the facts have been revealed to create awareness on the importance of integrating biodiversity and business.
Whether it is green spaces, transport, waste management, air quality, sustainable water system or environmental governance, Mumbai’s score is well below average when compared to 22 Asian cities in the Green Cities Index.
With a population of 12.7 million, it is the most densely populated city — 27,000 people per square kilometre — in the index. It generates a GDP per capita at about $2,200 (Dh8,080) which makes it one of the least prosperous cities in the index.
Mumbai ranks average in carbon emission levels but ranks high in energy consumption due to the lack of incentives to lower energy use. Its air quality is poor due to high levels of NO2, suspended particulate matter and SO2 levels and yet its citizens are not made aware of the effects of air pollution.
Ineffective policies
And worst of all, the city has ineffective policies on environment protection, unclear jurisdictions and overlapping roles of government agencies.
With the United Nations declaring 2012 as the year of the Green Economy, it’s no big secret that industry and manufacturing have been rough on the environment but things can change and ordinary people can help, environmentalists say.
The American Centre in collaboration with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and the Western Railway is holding an exhibition titled ‘Biodiversity and business together make a green economy’ from June 5-7 at the Churchgate rail terminus. Visitors will be urged to take a pledge to change their lifestyles to be more green. Buying minimum packaging products, reporting environmental destruction to local media and making financial investments in companies that do not harm the environment are some of the pledges to be undertaken.
To attract more visitors to the exhibition, the organisers will hold an eco-fun zone where “we will conduct mini workshops and interactive activities for children and adults. These include composting and kitchen gardening, e-waste recycling, energy audit and GM crops, quiz, trash buster games and face painting,” Atul Sathe, spokesperson, BNHS, told Gulf News.
