On the eve of the opening of COP29, the annual climate conference, certain emerging countries are displaying very ambitious projects to reduce greenhouse gases. Thus, the economic capital of India, Mumbai, intends to become the first city in Southeast Asia “carbon neutral”, in 2050.
Stalin Dayanand takes us to the side of a highway. We climb together onto the footbridge that spans it. The director of the environmental protection association Vanashakti then points to a huge hill: “You see in the distance behind the mangrove, the mountain, well it's a landfill. That of Kanjurmarg. It's one of the largest in the country. This mountain of waste is as high as a 12-story building . We can't get closer, it's forbidden, the municipality doesn't want us to see, continues Stalin Dayanand. In fact, the trash is not treated.”
“It’s in the open air, you see the birds circling above the rubbish, it attracts them, in the evening there are at least 50,000 of them. With the heat, the rubbish emits methane and other gases… “
Stalin Dayanandat franceinfo
“There is another landfill not very far away, that of Déonar, with a residential area next to it, continues Stalin Dayanand. There, the life expectancy of residents is less than 40 years. So, I wanted to show you how Mumbai manages its waste.”
Waste management is one of the major challenges facing the city of Mumbai. Two years ago, to everyone's surprise, the municipality announced that it intended to achieve zero carbon in 2050. Here, global warming is felt. The city of 20 million inhabitants is located on a peninsula by the sea, and finds itself flooded more and more regularly. It is also terribly hot. The temperature has increased by 2 degrees in 40 years.
Srikala Pillai is a municipal councilor: “I always tell my children that when we were children, it rained from June onwards, a lot, and this rainy season lasted three months. Then there was winter and then summer. But now, you never know when it's going to rain. There hasn't been a winter for three years, we have terrible summers and incredible heat in October. Last week we had torrential rains, with some. storm and lightning.”
Srikala Pillai walks us to the bottom of her building and she gets annoyed when she sees the garbage dumpsters: “Look, these are my neighbors. There are two trash cans, one for wet garbage, the other for dry garbage. Well, they mixed everything up, they don't do any sorting. The priority is to “First, educate citizens. Here you have a live example: it's happening in my own building. Everyone has to get involved if we want to change things.” For her, the fight against global warming is everyone's business.
To achieve carbon neutrality in 25 years, Mumbai has launched a vast plan with many avenues to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The municipality is supported by the NGO WRI, which has established an action plan. “We have identified numerous avenues for reducing greenhouse gas emissionsexplains Avni Agarwal, project manager at WRI. Already, energy, we should decarbonize our electricity by favoring LPG and solar panels. Another option is to build greener, low-carbon buildings and lower the temperature by creating better ventilation.”
“Waste must also be better managed, insists Avni Agarwal. Improve sustainable mobility by electrifying our vehicles and promoting public transport. Another idea is to create more green spaces and promote biodiversity, fight against flooding and finally improve water management and air quality.”
One of the first realizations of this plan is located north of Mumbai: the “urban forest” by Marol. The city is still under construction and that makes places like this little forest even more necessary. Sayali Lokare, from the NGO WRI, guides us through this brand new park of just over one hectare.
The park uses recycled water, includes a pond with fish, a butterfly garden, flowers and dense vegetation. Squirrels run past your feet. This “urban forest” which uses recycled water has replaced an industrial wasteland: “If we chose to build a park here, it is because this part of the city is one of the most vulnerable… It is particularly hot there, and at the same time social inequalities are very marked.”
We then pass under trees which offer a little shade. That day it was around thirty degrees: “Can you feel it? Thanks to the vegetation, the temperature drops suddenly when we go into the shade. We may have only lost three degrees, but with the humidity, we have the impression of having lost five at once There is also a draft of fresh air, it makes this space very pleasant.
In this park, the ground temperature is 7 to 10 degrees lower than in the street next door. One of the goals is to be able to serve as a refuge for the poorest during extreme heat. In Mumbai, around half of the inhabitants live in slums, informal dwellings that turn into furnaces during the day. Slums alongside skyscrapers are the paradox of Mumbai.
For environmental activists, the city's transition is not going fast enough. These park projects, these “small” projects, “it’s window dressing”annoys Stalin Danayand, of the Vanashakti association. It is found in the salt marshes located to the very north of the city, an area where many birds have found refuge: “Look, there above us, it’s a kind of stork, an Indian tantalum with a pink tail, it’s very beautiful.”
“In Mumbai, the height of the sea water is at its maximum. At the slightest rain, it overflows and the city is flooded.”
Stalin Dayanandat franceinfo
“Here is a buffer zone, continues Stalin Dayanand. At high tide or when there is heavy rain, water rushes into this strip, retaining millions of liters of water. It is, in a way, Mumbai's life jacket. But this is what the municipality does not understand. She intends to destroy this area and build apartment buildings for the slum dwellers who will relocate here after destroying their homes.”
Stalin Dayanand opposes these constructions: “If you build, this safety zone will no longer exist and at the first rains, there will be floods in the city, with many deaths, particularly among the poorest who do not live high up, in buildings, but in slums. The goal of the city is to build, and always at the expense of nature. We will further enrich entrepreneurs. These sharks will eat up every square centimeter of the city of Mumbai, at the cost of the future of the city. city Then you can't. not on the one hand present an action plan to reduce carbon emissions and at the same time do that. What sense does that make?
The city of Mumbai announced a few months ago that it would allocate more than 200 million euros this year and next to achieve carbon neutrality in 25 years. Stalin Dayanand doubts: to his liking, ecological transition projects are not going fast enough and the municipality has not really taken stock of the climate emergency.
