Mumbai, Konkan region witnessed 3.7mm sea level rise every year between 2006-2018

MUMBAI: Maharashtra has witnessed around 175 incidents of extreme rainfall events in 31 districts and about 189 incidents of untimely rainfall in 36 districts in the last 5 years besides a four-time rise in extreme drought events to around 80 in 2010-19 from 17 in 1990-99 which all can be attributed to the climate change, indicated a report by Inter Parliamentary Committee on Climate Change.
Among these Mumbai and Konkan region districts assume prominence. The report was presented by state principal secretary for environment and climate change Manisha Mhaiskar at a function held at the central hall of the state assembly on Thursday.
State has spent over Rs 21,000 crore in compensation and draught relief works taken up during disasters caused by events such as flashfloods, unseasonal rains, cyclone and hailstorms, landslides etc the report said. Environment minister Aaditya Thackeray, chairman of the state legislative council Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar, deputy chairman Neelam Gorhe and former chief minister and Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan were among the guests at the releasing ceremony.
According to the report almost entire Mumbai has become Urban Heat Island (UHI) which is attributed to increased concretization, destruction of wetlands, degradation of mangroves and depleting greenery while areas such as Kothrud, Hadapsar, Aundh and Viman Nagar in Pune city have turned UHI. The UHIs have higher daytime temperatures which contribute to flashfloods and unseasonal showers besides causing reduction in groundwater levels.
"While major parts of Mumbai have experienced a temperature rise of approximately 2 degree C between 1991-2018, the parts of Pune have experienced about 3degree C temperature rise between 2001-2016," the report points out. Loss of work hours due to decrease in human productivity subsequent to rising heatwaves poses threat to the economy and the public health -- make us prone to virus attacks such as Covid-19. Loss of crop productivity, rising crop burning incidents, pest attacks and lower dairy yields could be the impacts, report warns.
Between 2006 and 2018, the sea level has risen to 3.7mm, highest since 1971 due to rising temperature, report reveals. Mumbai is one of the 12 listed cities at the risk of coastal submergence due to increase in sea surface temperature, extreme rainfall events and rapid urbanization, the report indicates.
By 2050, report says, major land area of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane will be more likely to get severely flooded. Thackeray said the effects of climate change have already reached us and adversely affecting us and is no more a prediction but a reality. "Now, its time to act decisively to save mother earth and the precious life on it," he added. Nimbalkar said an incident of 750mm overnight rain in Mahabaleshwar is nothing but the fallout of climate change which needs a serious efforts to negate carbon emissions.