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Sea at Reay Rd to become dumping site
BMC to dump road construction debris at the Mumbai Port Trust site; move will solve civic body’s dumping woes for next 10 yrs ………..SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI
Road construction work that has been delayed for the past two months may now finally be back on track, as the Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) has offered to let the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) use the sea near its Reay Road land as a dumping site for construction debris. The site will be able to accommodate up to 10 lakh metric tonnes of debris, which means it could solve the BMC’s dumping woes for 8-10 years.
According to a senior civic official, road construction work had delayed for the last two months due to lack dump yards for the debris. “On reading about this in newspapers, the MPT authorities approached us offering space to dump the debris in the Reay Road area. Since it is located in the city itself, we will not have to spend much money on transport,” an official said.
Elaborating on how the site would be beneficial to the BMC, he added, “We have visited the location; it will accommodate up to 10 lakh metric tonnes. Our road department will generate 10,000 metric tonnes of debris each month. Therefore, the civic body will be able to dump debris at this site for at least 8-10 years.”
Stating that some old and outdated vessels are submerged in the water here, the official continued, “The MPT has ensured us that they will remove these vessels and vacate the space. If all goes well, the BMC will be able to acquire the land in 15 days.”
A senior official from the MPT confirmed that they have made the offered the site to the BMC, but said that the final decision has not yet been taken. “The MPT is a highly sensitive area and keeping security in mind, we will give permission to BMC to dump the debris in the seashore area,” he said.
The BMC, which planned to build 136 km asphalt and 66 km concrete roads at a cost of Rs 943 crore, could not begin construction work because it did not have any place to dump the debris within the city. Dump yards at Deonar and Mulund have been overloaded ever since the Gorai dumping ground closed last year.
Earlier, Mukesh Ambani had offered the BMC 2,180 hectares of low-lying land at Dronagiri (Uran), Ulwe and Kalamboli. Mumbai Mirror had reported that the project would use Rs 80 crore of taxpayers’ money as transport costs.
Civic officials now say that the cost of dumping at the Ambani Special Economic Zone would be high given its location, and that the Reay Road site would be a more costeffective option.
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