Mumbai’s Versova Creek is literally covered with plastic waste. Image courtesy Ministry of Mumbai’s Magic
Many plastic containers, once thrown away, end up in creeks flowing down into the sea. Every day, people in the city of Mumbai dump 80 – 110 metric tonnes (MT) of plastic waste into drains and water channels. This plastic finds its way into nets, becomes tangled in them or cuts them open, and into the bellies of fish and other sea creatures.
Plastic has become a big problem for local fishers, including the indigenous communities of the Kolis and Warlis, who have relied on the creeks and sea around Mumbai for generations.
Water bodies around the city are now often choked with plastic. Fish catches have declined so much that indigenous fishers are turning to deep sea fishing, a less financially viable option.
Currents also drive plastic onto banks, beaches and mangrove areas, disrupting the animals and plants that thrive there. This means that cutting plastic pollution is a priority for both people and the ecosystems around cities. It has wider implications for the deep sea too. More than 10m tonnes of plastic waste enters the world’s oceans each year. The vast majority of this ends up in the deep ocean and breaks down into tiny pieces that block the digestive tracts of sea animals.
Cutting plastic pollution and managing waste is a complex challenge across India. National plans to cut plastic waste, including banning plastic bags and single-use plastic packaging, have been announced, but enforcement has been patchy. In many cities, informal waste pickers play an important part in segregating and managing plastic waste. But large amounts of plastic from households and businesses still end up in the water.
One response to the problem in Mumbai is to extract plastic from the water. In 2022, the ‘New Catch in Town’ project, by Bombay61 in collaboration with TAPESTRY project and Ministry of Mumbai’s Magic, successfully tested a system to use traditional fishing nets to catch plastic as it floats towards the sea. Designed with and by the Koli community of Versova, involving their knowledge and skills, the project has the potential to remove up to 24,000 kg of waste from the entire Versova creek system per month.
The installation targets the mouth of the creek outlets to remove the garbage as efficiently as possible. Once installed, around 5000 kg of waste can be collected from just one outlet of a creek in one month. The project has been working with experts on segregation and recycling to manage the waste once it leaves the water.
The project also aims to restore pride in Mumbai’s water bodies. Many Mumbaikars casually use the word nullahs (drains), reinforcing the view that they are merely dumps for sewage and waste. The project challenges this view by mapping the histories of the creeks, and their crucial role for local fishers. The net filters also provide dramatic evidence of the quantity of waste that can rapidly accumulate. Now successfully tested, they could be rolled out in Mumbai and in other cities where water channels flow through densely populated areas.
The aim is not just to collect plastic, however. The wider vision is to promote clean and healthy creeks as an agenda for civic authorities, recognising the role of indigenous communities. These communities are at the front line of environmental change, including climate disruption, construction projects, and the build-up of chemicals and waste. They have a long and close understanding of creeks and shorelines and are well placed to monitor and understand what changes are taking place. Their experience can point to a different relationship with water – transforming our view of it from a dump or sewer, to a source of life and health.
The author is associated with Institute of Development Studies, Brighton and communications coordinator, TAPESTRY project. Views are personal.
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