The Mithi River, dubbed so for the once-sweet water that coursed through, is a seasonal river and a confluence of tail-water discharges of the Powai and Vihar lakes in Mumbai. Decades of abuse and encroachment on its flood plains and estuaries killed the river. The construction of retaining walls over the years, most recently for the Metro-3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) at Dharavi, has damaged the river flow capacity, river spread, and alignment. Additionally, illegal reclamation of the estuaries, along with industrial effluent and organic waste from slum residences and cattle settlements, has been exceedingly detrimental to the health of the river over the years. The 17.84-km river is essentially ‘an open drain’. Less than 5% of the river has been planned for treatment, which effectively makes 95% of the river sewage.

Vanashakti intervened in the above concerns and moved the Supreme Court with the intent to establish the construction of retaining walls in the Mithi River as detrimental and injurious. We challenged the Coastal Regulation Zone clearance granted for the construction of retaining walls and a service road along the banks of the Mithi River by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority.