Vile Parle East was a lovely small village on the coast of
Mumbai. Unlike other villages, it was not a fishing village. Its culture was
mainly centred around the Parleshwar temple and trading in grocery items by the
few Brahmin families settled around the temple. Merchants came much later.
It still retains the
character of a small village- basically it covers a small area with a distinct
culture and layout. But we are now on the threshold of major changes, which
will bring about large ecological challenges. These are broadly:
AIR QUALITY
1.
Pollution is covered below
2.
Breeze
Most Parlekars in old buildings were able
to enjoy the cool evening breeze blowing from the sea. Now except the heavy
monsoon winds, breeze is a rare experience. In some areas like open ground of
Parle Tilak vidyalay or atop tall buildings, still breeze can be felt.
3.
Temperature
We still don’t experience the ‘heat-
islanding’ to that extent. But market areas seem to be warmer than residential
areas
4.
Light and brightness
The merchants in Parle have been sensible not
to install bright hoardings. So, excessive night-time brightness which is
disturbing to humans is still not such a problem. During daytime the glare in market-place is really
annoying.
WATER QUALITY
1.
Piped water supply- Vile Parle East was found to
have the cleanest water in a survey done about 2-3 years ago.
2.
Well water systems
Ground water pollution by sewage is an
ever- increasing problem.
3.
Lakes and ponds
There are no lakes or ponds
FLORA AND FAUNA
1.
Tree cover- Ever decreasing, the diversity is
reduced and many exotic inappropriate trees are being found here. Trees are
being chopped for easy visibility of hoardings- most notably the new gold shop
opposite Babasaheb Gawde Hospital has chopped the tree on the corner to make
its board visible. There is not a single green belt, urban forest in Parle
East. The shrub trees are particularly missing- castor, calotropis, ber, etc
2.
Birds-
We still have considerable number of birds-
but they are reducing.
3.
Mammals
The only mammals worth quoting are the
common squirrel and bats.
4.
Snakes, lizards and other reptiles
My impression is that there could be
snakes- hidden away in mounds of debris, nearer slightly cleaner gutters or un-
used spaces. Plenty of lizards, a few
calotes are present.
5.
Insects, worms and other small fauna
There are lots of mosquitoes- but beehives
are distinctly less in number. Frogs have reduced.
6.
Vermin
The population of dogs, cats, pigeons, rats
and mosquitoes and flies is considerable.
POLLUTION – Most of these variable will need data before my
putting it here, so I will start from No 4. As a doctor, and from discussion
with my colleagues- pollution related respiratory, skin complaints are on the
rise. Also people do complain of disturbance and headaches due to noise
pollution.
1.
Chemicals in air
2.
Solid particles in air
3.
Noise
4.
Sewage- It appears all buildings discharge
untreated sewage into the storm water drains from where it flows into the sea.
5.
Garbage- Garbage- mostly unsegregated is
collected by municipality and dumped at Deonar or Mulund.
6.
Culture- specific pollutants- These include
playing of loudspeakers, feeding cows and pigeons at roadside, leaving left- over food on
parapet walls, etc
AMBIENCE AND AESTHETICS
1.
Old and traditional houses- not all old houses
provide visual pleasure- Some are covered in tarpaulin and look like hovels
2.
New buildings trends
Glass fronted buildings, multi- storeyed
car parks and concretised set- backs. These trends are totally inappropriate
for Vile PARLE. For one Mostly AC Cooling is not needed, glass causes glare. I
wish buildings should use percolator-type paver blocks instead of concretising
their compounds.
3.
New layout trends
Concrete roads and total disregard for
pedestrians is a negative trend. But some commercial areas like ICICI bank
building on Hanuman road have provided good set- backs, which is a positive
trend
Special sights or spaces
The only structure that can be identified as truly 'Parlekar' is the Parleshwar temple. Other than that we have no claim to any special buildings, sculptures or public spaces. We need to develop something that encompasses the soul, culture, pride and 'true' feeling of what it is to be a Parlekar.
The increased population is not actually an ecological
challenge. Vile Parle has enough ground water resources. If organized
intelligently the waste management also can be trouble- free. In fact due to
high population density we should be able to implement many public transport
solutions even locally. There are very
few slum pockets in Vile Parle East and they are undergoing re-development. The
only challenge related to population is the tendency to desire several large
cars and drive them around for small tasks like vegetable shopping. This creates all kinds of pollution,
obstruction of roads due to parking and traffic congestion.
