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Controversy Over Mumbai’s Salt Pans
Context:
The Centre recently approved the transfer of 256 acres of salt pan land in Mumbai to Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd (DRPPL), a joint venture between Adani Realty Group and the Maharashtra government.
More on News:
- Mumbai has about 5,378 acres of salt pan land, roughly nine times the size of the Dharavi slum. Of this, approximately 1,672 acres are considered developable.
- Across India, around 60,000 acres of salt pan lands are designated, with major areas in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
What Are Salt Pan Lands?
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Key Highlights:
- Environmentalists warn that building on salt pan lands could worsen flooding in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs.
- Salt pans played a crucial role in reducing the impact of the July 2005 deluge, which brought 944 mm of rain in one day.
- Previous plans for salt pan lands included relocating slums and building affordable housing. These plans faced delays and re-evaluations with changes in government leadership.
- The costs of making these lands habitable—such as landfilling, foundation building, and waterproofing—might make the affordable housing project more expensive than expected.
Significance:
- Salt pans serve as natural reservoirs, and help manage water flow by absorbing excess rainfall and tidal water from Thane Creek, which reduces flooding in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs, such as Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg, and Bhandup.
- They support various species of birds and insects, contributing to biodiversity. Their development could impact local flora and fauna.
Where Do Salt Pans Occur?
- Salt Pans typically form in dry, arid desert regions where large bodies of water, such as basin lakes or seas, once existed but dried up thousands of years ago, leaving behind only the minerals.
- This means that without runoff into rivers, streams, or lower-elevation pools, water remains confined within the basin.
- In the absence of runoff, lakes and ponds within these basins depend solely on evaporation and precipitation for water balance.
- In particularly dry and hot climates, high evaporation rates cause water in these basins to dry up over the years. Limited precipitation means that the water is rarely replenished significantly.
- As a result of these factors, these water bodies become highly saline, with elevated concentrations of minerals and salts.
- Over time, as the basins continue to evaporate, the water becomes progressively more saline, eventually leaving behind rich mineral deposits.
- Examples: Bonneville salt pans (USA), Etosha Pan (endorheic salt pan,) Salar de Uyuni (world’s largest salt pan located in Bolivia), Rann of Kutch etc.
