Reclamation at the Airport Authority plot in Andheri(W)

This post is regarding the reclamation being carried out in the plot of green land seen above. The plot lies in the Andheri-Juhu Road. The plot is bordered on the North by The Club, in the south by the buildings bordering Gulmohur Road, in the east by Gilbert Hill and in the west by ESIC Nagar.

Fresh dumping of debris can be seen in the picture above. The road was first a narrow 5ft wide strip just next to the green portion in the bottom right side of the photo, which has now expanded to the width it is currently seen in. There is a slum rehabilitation project coming up by some builder Khubchandani towards the top right corner of the photograph.

For the project the developer needs access and hence an agreement was reached with the Airport Authority of India to whom this green plot belongs, that the developer will expand the road to make it 100 feet wide, giving 40 feet to AAI and keeping 60 feet for himself. The filling went on all of May. This information was made available to me by the persons present on the site to whom the contract to cary on the filling was given.

This plot of green land is the last in this area and also a very important absorber of excess run off water during the monsoons. Excess water from all the surrounding areas floods this plot in. It provides a very soothing atmosphere to the place surrounded by buildings.

It is imperative to understand on whose behest the AAI operates. Is it possible that piece by piece the AAI will one day give away the entire land? Andheri has anyway become hell with the complete explosion in the number of buildings, population and cars in the past decade and we cannot afford to loose this last green plot. Is this public property and should the public not have a say in what happens here?

If reclaimed, water which now fills this plot (lower than the neighbouring areas by around 5 feet) will be displace and have only the roads and building compunds to fill.

Far in the picture near the tall buildings is also Gilbert Hill, which is another natural wonder completely obscured with the mostly illegal development activity around it. Seen better in the picture below.

Pollution Darkens China's Skies

Associated Press12:00 PM Jan, 27, 2006 EST

China's skies have darkened over the past 50 years, possibly due to haze resulting from a nine-fold increase in fossil fuel emissions, according to researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The researchers, writing in this month's edition of Geophysical Research Letters, found that the amount of solar radiation measured at more than 500 stations in China fell from 1954 to 2001 despite a decrease in cloud cover.

"Normally, more frequent cloud-free days should be sunnier and brighter but this doesn't happen in our study," said Yun Qian of the energy department's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state.

"The pollution (that) resulted from human activity may have created a haze which absorbs and deflects the sun's rays," Qian, the study's lead author, said in an e-mail interview Friday.

Air pollution is widespread in China. Antiquated factories billow smoke, many residents still use coal to heat their centuries-old houses, and a sharp increase in car ownership has bathed the motorways in exhaust fumes.

Using data from more than 500 weather stations in China, researchers found the amount of sunlight hitting the ground has fallen by 3.7 watts per square yard in each of the last five decades amid a nine-fold increase in fossil fuel emissions, the study said.

The cloud cover data used in this study was obtained from the China Meteorological Administration through a bilateral agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy on global and regional climate change, the researchers said.

Herbert G. Fabian, who studies urban pollution and transportation issues for the Asian Development Bank, said the study's conclusion "makes sense" but that more information is needed.

"There really is (an) air pollution problem and a haze problem in China because (of) dust storms and pollution," said Fabian, who was not connected to the study. "But we can't say conclusively that the reduction in sunlight is due to haze."

The study also said haze appears to have masked the impact of global warming by reflecting sunlight back into space and cooling the Earth's surface.

"The haze may have masked the effects of global warming across large parts of China, particularly in the central and eastern regions, where daily high temperatures have actually been decreasing," Qian said. "This may seem like good news, but any success China has in curbing emissions will accelerate the effects of global warming in those areas when the cooling mask is lifted."

A scene of Malad Creek from Mindspace Complex. This is what we are doing to our waterbodies