REVIVAL
Mithi River Rejuvenation Sets The Course For A Blue-Green Dharavi
Rakhi Kankane
A neglected waterbody in the heart of the city would soon become a new symbol of Mumbai and a vibrant riverfront public space.
For decades, the Mithi River has stood as one of Mumbai's most enduring paradoxes — a watercourse that physically carves through the city yet fails to evoke even a shred of belonging or pride among the millions who live along its banks. Rather than a cherished lifeline, it has been treated as a forgotten, grey drain choked with toxic industrial waste and plastic debris.
Most notoriously, the heavily silted and neglected river served as a prime catalyst for the catastrophic July 2005 Mumbai floods, when its choked channels backed up, leaving swathes of the financial capital underwater and claiming hundreds of lives. Yet, for years, the river remained largely ignored, existing only as a hazardous eyesore to be quickly bypassed. That is about to change.
Under the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, led by Adani Navbharat Developers Pvt Ltd (ANDPL), the Mithi river will be systematically restored to the clean, natural state it originally deserved within Mumbai's urban landscape.
Artistic impressions show the Mithi river systematically restored to its natural, clean state under Adani's Dharavi Redevelopment Project.
A 3.3-kilometre promenade will rise along its banks — running from the Matunga culvert down to the main riverfront —complete with scenic viewing decks, active cafes, and dynamic spaces designed for local art and community performances.
The ecological thinking runs deeper than aesthetics. Native trees and pollution-filtering plants will embrace the banks, while porous paving and bioswales, essentially engineered rain gardens, will soak up monsoon runoff and let it seep back into the ground rather than rushing straight into the drains.
This riverfront will link into a much larger green skeleton threading through Dharavi: a 15-metre-wide tree-lined spine for walkers and cyclists, a generous Central Park, and pockets of neighbourhood green scattered through the settlement. Together, they are designed to cut through Dharavi's heat and haze, letting air move where it has long stagnated.
The numbers behind the greening are striking. Some 40,000 trees will take root within Dharavi itself, roughly five times the count due to be cleared for construction. Nearly two lakh more trees will be planted across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in phases. Environmental firm Terracon will nurse the saplings for five years and file survival reports.
The transformation around the Mithi River will be more than just landscaping or flood mitigation — it will be about endowing the river its rightful place in the lives of Mumbaikars.