MUMBAI: Prominent citizens and civic activists have written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to review various resettlement policies that expose residents of crowded rehabilitation and redevelopment buildings to contagious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB).
On Saturday, TOI reported on a survey commissioned by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s Environment Improvement Society of 4,080 households in three resettlement colonies of Mankhurd and Govandi. The study carried out by Doctors For You found people here susceptible to a higher rate of TB because of cramped houses with poor light and ventilation.
“Greater Mumbai already has the highest population density amongst global cities. Instead of providing solutions to cope with such high densities to mitigate their deleterious effects, our existing peremptorily modified development control rules (DCRs) are, unfortunately, enabling even denser living,’’ said the letter.
They urged the CM to “urgently” review and “rastically overhaul” the diluted existing DCRs. They suggested that no more buildings, projects or schemes be sanctioned by the BMC, SRA, Mhada and MRDA pending review of these DCRs.
“You will agree that it is the duty of the government to provide the essentials for a reasonable quality of life to its citizens. Hence, the responsibility of the repercussions, such as the ones mentioned in the report, squarely rests with the government,” said the letter.
The signatories include former chief secretary D M Sukthankar, Justice (retd) S Variava, former Mumbai police commissioner Julio Ribeiro, former BMC chief Sharad Kale, town planner Shirish Patel, civic activists Cyrus Guzder, Gerson da Cunha, Nayana Kathpalia, Shirin Bharucha, Meher Rafat, Dr Armida Fernandes and architect Pankaj Joshi.
The existing DCRs allow just a three-metre separation between rehab highrises so as to pack as many people as possible in the smallest space.
The Doctors For You report found that in one such transit settlement in Govandi, every 10th person has TB. Low income groups are the most affected. Bigger the family, higher the chances of finding a TB patient in the household, it said. “The city government must take necessary action to bring improvements in built form, livability and avert a public health crisis,” said the report.
In the resettlement buildings surveyed, health experts said almost all floors are equally affected due to poor ventilation and sunshine access.
Households without openable windows or which use close windows as storage spaces have a high likelihood of a TB patient. Lack of exhaust fans are also strongly correlated to TB prevalence, indicating lack of mechanical ventilation.
“All colonies show poor sky view factors, daylight autonomy and ventilation, which may be the likely cause of high TB in this area,” it said.
“Parameters followed for the building of new resettlement colonies in the future must conform to the National Building code without any dilution,” it added.
The report recommended installing ventilators and exhaust fans, and decongesting living spaces in existing buildings, which might reduce the risk of TB. The report further said that to ascertain if TB is being transmitted within the colony and households and to track the path of transmission, genetic identification of the strain of bacteria infecting various individuals is needed.