Powai Residents Sound Alarm Over Mega Projects, Warn Of Infrastructure Collapse, Ecological Damage

Mumbai: Around 125 residents of Powai and Chandivali gathered at Lake Castle Podium, Hiranandani, Powai on Sunday in an public awareness meeting informing citizens about massive infrastructure crisis as two mega-projects move forward, allegedly bypassing mandatory public consultations, and urging them to stand up for your quality of life before it's permanently ruined. 

"It was an awareness meeting to tell people about the projects under construction in Powai that is - The proposed rehabilitation scheme of Project Affected People (PAP) along with a sale component which is the Global Capacity Centre (GCC), and the ⁠Expansion of the proposed IT Park / Data Centre, with service apartments, Residential bungalow & Star Hotel," Powai Advance Locality Management (ALM) convenor, Pamela Cheema said.

"These projects are unsustainable in Powai which is a very dense residential area and cannot support such projects where the infrastructure is already on the verge of collapse. Traffic here is already chaotic. We also discussed the ecological damage being done because of the cutting of the hills," Cheema added.

The Free Press Journal had reported on July 30 that hill cutting at Powai for the massive project of 'Rehabilitation Scheme with a Sale Component,' which includes 11 towers for rehabilitation of PAP and a 30,000-seat (GCC, has raised alarms among the local residents due to the potential environmental hazards. Environmental and residents’ groups warn that the area could face heightened landslide and flooding risks as rapid hill cutting continues, and that the project’s own Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) identifies landslides and stability of the existing sloping hillside among hazards requiring risk assessment. 

However, a spokesperson of BH Sharma, who is the project proponent said that environmental safeguards have been integrated into the project from the planning stage, and the EIA evaluated key aspects including slope stability, geology, drainage, water resources, traffic, air quality, noise, green cover and ecological impacts before clearance was granted.

"Residents are not opposing development. They are asking for responsible development. Powai's families have spent decades building their lives here and deserve to know how projects of this scale will impact traffic, water availability, emergency access, infrastructure and the environment. People are frustrated because they feel they are being asked to bear the consequences of decisions in which they have had little say," said Milan Bhat from Powai ALM.

"We are simply asking for transparency, accountability and a genuine assessment of whether Powai can sustainably handle this additional burden, not just for today's residents, but for future generations as well," Bhat added.

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