| dbo:abstract |
Mahul is a fishing village in Chembur, Mumbai (Kurla Tehsil), located on the eastern seafront of the Mumbai Suburban district. The village is known Since 2017, Mahul has been in news for its high levels of pollution and the dismal conditions of its 72 building slum resettlement colony because of which it has come to be referred to as Mumbai's "toxic hellhole", "gas chamber" and "human dumping ground", where the poor "are sent to die". The Mahul-Trombay belt, which includes the villages of Mahul, Ambapada and Chereshwar were sparsely populated regions, home only to a few local fishing communities and thick mangrove forests. The industrial diversification that began in the country during World War II led to a movement of the population beyond the northern suburbs of the 1930s. In 1947, the Committee on Industrial Development came to the conclusion that "Trombay [is] ... most suitable ... [because of its] proximity to the deep water jetty and [being] far removed from residential populations". This thinking guided the government's actions during the first Five Year Plan after independence, when the state owned refineries now present in the region were first established. Over the next few decades, Mahul became home to major industrial establishments such as Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (HPCL), Tata Power, Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers (RCF), Sea Lord Containers, Aegis Logistics, Indian Oil, Natual Oil Blending Ltd., Chemical Terminal Trombay Ltd. and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). As a consequence, air and water quality in Mahul and surrounding villages have suffered and its biodiversity is threatened. (en) |
