Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Environment protection missing from poll agenda of parties, claim activists

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Activists have expressed concern that political parties contesting the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 are paying little attention to environmental issues affecting the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), which could lead to serious consequences in the future.

According to news agency PTI, representatives from not-for-profit organisations and citizen groups highlighted key concerns, including erratic rainfall, flooding, increasing air and sea pollution, and vanishing wetlands.

"Mumbai and its urban centres are grappling with a severe shortage of open spaces. Former textile mill lands have been converted into concrete jungles, with little focus on tree plantation," said BN Kumar, director of NatConnect. Kumar said World Health Organization (WHO) report on shrinking per capita open space in MMR is self-explanatory on the stifling air pollution and appealed to political parties to move beyond the usual election rhetoric and focus equally on environmental care.

Nandakumar Pawar, the director of another green group called Sagar Shakti, echoed these concerns, and pointed out that creek and sea waters were becoming increasingly contaminated while officials continued to deny the problem. "In areas such as Uran in coastal Raigad, inter-tidal wetlands have been buried, and some villages are facing unseasonal floods owing to the diversion of natural watercourses," he said.

According to PTI, Pawar also warned that the proposed housing projects on salt pan lands, such as those in Mulund, could potentially flood Mumbai if these "urban sponges" disappear. "Mumbai has not learned from the flooding of cities such as Chennai. A WWF ( World Wide Fund) study shows that more than 60% of Chennai's wetlands have been lost to real estate development, contributing to annual monsoon flooding," he added.

Activists also criticised the former Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for drafting the Mumbai Climate Action Plan (MCAP), which has been sidelined under successive administrations. They noted that the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is the only party to mention environmental protection in its manifesto, promising to revive the climate action plan across all districts.

According to PTI, Jyoti Nadkarni of the Kharghar Hills and Wetlands Group, raised concerns over the destruction of wetlands and mangroves, often under the guise of development projects such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and coastal roads.

Mumbai's rapid urbanisation is contributing to challenges that directly impact public health, infrastructure resilience, and environmental sustainability, said advocate Godfrey Pimenta, director of the Watchdog Foundation. "The city's air quality is deteriorating owing to uncontrolled construction and increasing vehicular traffic, posing a serious health risk, particularly to children and the elderly," he added.

With the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 to be held on 20 November and votes to be counted three days later, activists are calling on political parties to prioritise the environment in their campaigns.

(With PTI inputs)