Almost entire Mumbai has access to education: MCAP study

About 99 per cent of Mumbairsquos population may have access to a healthcare facility in their vicinity on a normal day but the accessibility drops to a worrying 64 per cent during floods Similarly the access to fire rescue services dips from 79 per cent to 47 per cent during flooding a perennial problem in the city These are the findings of a study under the Mumbai Climate Action PlanThe Mumbai Climate Action Plan MCAP study explored the gaps in vulnerability with regard to access to education healthcare and fire rescue services in case of a climateinduced crisis With the help of MCAP Mumbai aims to achieve netzero emission by 2050A flooded area at Andheri East a day after the July 26 2005 disaster PicAshish RaneAccess to educationThough the city has a large population of literate people female literacy is slightly lower in Mumbai Literacy increases onersquos ability to access information absorb early warnings and respond faster during a crisis or disaster event Based on Census 2011 and ward level analysis Greater Mumbai has the highest literacy rate at 81 per cent and the highest female literacy rate at 777 per cent in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region or MMRBasanti Roy educationist and former secretary of Mumbai division of state board and Prabhat Rahanagdale former chief fire officerAt least 955 per cent of the city population has access to a school within 1 km The city has 405 aided schools 710 unaided schools and 1136 municipal schools Madh Andheri East and Mahul are some of the underserved areas with limited access to schools within 1 km the MCAP study revealed For poor families proximity to educational institutions ensures enrolment especially for girlsHowever the Maharashtra governmentrsquos own data in April 2021 revealed that over 25000 children remained out of school in the state Of these the highest number of students who dropped out 10820 were from MumbaiBasanti Roy an educationist and former secretary of Mumbai division of state board said itrsquos quality of education that matters more ldquoIt is true that more and more schools are coming up in every nook and corner of the city Quantity is there but our concern is quality Whether there are qualified teachers in these schools BMC schools themselves are shutting down people are turning to private schools and those who cannot afford private education are dropping out So accessibility might not be an issue quality education too should have been assessed under MCAP I feelrdquoAccess to health servicesTimely access to medical care is crucial for everyday life as well as during a disaster event The vulnerability of population concentrations with limited access to health services is exacerbated during heat waves flooding and landslides which may lead to higher mortalities or longterm health risks MCAP has statedAs per the MCAP report 989 per cent of Mumbairsquos population has access to an inpatient healthcare facility within 5 km Mumbai has 71 government and civicrun hospitals with a total bed count of 18797 It also has 1521 private hospitals with a capacity of 34889 beds The populationtobed ratio within the service area is 34 beds per 1000 peopleMadh and Versova are the only areas with limited access to hospitalsIn the event of a flood the population with easy access to a healthcare drops to 639 per cent Wards C Kalbadevi Chandanwadi Pydhonie Marine Drive Chira Bazar and FN Matunga Wadala rank the highest as 100 per cent of their population have access to healthcare but this reduces to 78 per cent and 33 per cent respectively during floods The drop in access to healthcare can potentially impact timely medical aid especially for the poorer populationMoreover 141 per cent of Mumbairsquos population doesnrsquot have access to a healthcare facility within the defined thresholds They are also exposed to heat stress when the temperature rises beyond 35 degrees Celsius exacerbating their vulnerability GN Ward Dharavi Mahim Dadar has the highest percentage of the population 25 exposed to such overlapping risksAccess to rescue servicesThe majority of Mumbairsquos residents are covered by emergency fire services and are within a fiveminute response time Higher access to fire services implies low response time which reduces vulnerability Residents of highdensity informal settlements are most at risk during fire emergenciesAccording to MCAPrsquos assessment report 474 per cent of Mumbairsquos area which houses 786 per cent of the population has access to fire stations within five minutes Mumbai has 39 fire stations including mini stations SEEPZ in Andheri Vikhroli Kanjurmarg Khardanda Borivli West and Gorai are some of the highdensity areas that lie beyond the fiveminute response time found the MCAP studyThe level of access also varies temporally throughout the day based on traffic and road conditions it saidIn case of floods the population serviced within a response time of five minutes is potentially reduced from 472 per cent Ward C which has the most peoplemdash100 per cent populationmdashliving within a fiveminute response time could see that reducing to 78 per cent in case of flooding thereby increasing vulnerabilityMoreover 129 per cent of the population doesnrsquot get fire services within five minutesHemant Parab chief fire officer of Mumbai Fire Brigade said that they start premonsoon preparations to avoid such situations ldquoWe are well aware of the difficulties Every year there are floods and waterlogged areas and some sort of disaster occurs On a rainy day response time is longer than on a normal day As a result beginning in May each year we mobilise resources and keep manpower on standby in vulnerable or chronically flooded areas Six of our boats are stationed in floodprone areas We prepare and do our best to deal with these issues during floods but some things are beyond our controlrdquo said ParabFormer chief fire officer and deputy municipal commissioner disaster management Prabhat Rahanagdale said ldquoNatural disasters such as flooding earthquakes and cyclones are beyond our control Flood and climate mitigation efforts will aid in resolving these issues Yes as rescuers all we can do is adapt to these situations and find a way out The first time I moved a file proposing improvements to flood rescue operations and training during my tenure as CFO no one took it seriously However the situation changed after the July 26 2005 deluge Everyone is now taking it seriously As part of its monsoon preparations Mumbai Fire Brigade now has rescue boats kayaks and jet skis in placerdquo214 per centPopulation with limited access to fire services981 per centPopulation with access to health care