The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to lease out a 15-acre portion of the Mulund landfill in Mumbai to Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL), a special purpose vehicle implementing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). The decision comes almost a year after the Maharashtra government allotted 124 acres of Mumbai’s oldest landfill in Deonar for construction of residential housing for DRP.
However, civic officials said that NMDPL will use the Mulund landfill to set up casting yards for construction purposes.
According to government records, Adani Properties Private Limited (APPL) owns 80 per cent of NMDPL shares, and the remaining 20 per cent is owned by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) of the state government.
According to a BMC document, the civic body has leased the Mulund dumping ground at an annual rent of Rs 18.35 crore for five years. Overall, the BMC intends to earn Rs 91.78 crore by leasing out the 15-acre portion of the dump site.
Cleaning of the Mulund dump site after court order in 2018
Spread over 24 acres, the Mulund landfill dump has been in operation since 1968. In 2018, the court ordered the civic body to scientifically close it. Subsequently, the BMC started cleaning the 70,000 metric tons of solid waste found there, and so far, about 50,000 metric tons of solid waste has been removed from the entire site. The civic body initially set a deadline of six years to clear the site; However, this deadline was not met due to logistical challenges.
“As of today, there is still around 50,000 metric tonnes of solid waste within the 15-acre portion, which has been allotted to NMDPL, and it will be cleared before it begins its official use. They will use the plot of land to set up a pouring yard and set up ready mix concrete (RMC) plants for the larger DRP project,” a senior civic official told The Indian Express.
Casting yard in Mulund to facilitate construction in salt lands
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NMDPL initially sought this land earlier in February. Besides the Deonar site, the government has also allocated salt lands in the eastern suburbs for the construction of housing units as part of the reconstruction project. The casting yard will be set up in Mulund to facilitate construction in the salt lands, which are easily accessible via the Eastern Express Highway (EEH).
Meanwhile, in July this year, the BMC had awarded a work order worth Rs 2,540 crore to Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL) at 7 per cent higher than the estimated cost of removing piles of waste present at the Deonar dump site. BMC said in the tender document that 110 hectares, or about 271 acres, of land will be cleared as part of this project.
Earlier in 2020, NECL and Adani entered into a 74:26 joint venture, with the latter holding a majority stake in the construction of the 47.8 km Vijayawada Bypass. For this project, the two companies have also formed a new company, Vijaywada Bypass Project Private Limited (VBPPL).
Previously, NECL had also bagged contracts for several major infrastructure projects in Mumbai, including the extension of the Eastern Expressway from Mankhurd to Anand Nagar for Rs 2,682 crore and the 13-km-long Thane Coastal Road, running between Palkom and Jimukh, which is also being built at a cost of Rs 2,727 crore.
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