The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s standing committee has rejected proposals for an indoor sports complex in Vashi Sector 10 and a parallel service road in Belapur, according to a report by Loksatta – Navi Mumbai. Both projects had been planned by Municipal Commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde during the civic administration’s administrative period.
NAVI MUMBAI | September 10, 2026
The two proposals were rejected by a majority vote at the standing committee meeting held on Wednesday. The decisions affect a proposed public sports facility in Vashi and a road project intended to address future traffic pressure around Belapur and the Navi Mumbai International Airport corridor.
The Vashi sports complex had been under preparation for approximately one-and-a-half to two years. Commissioner Shinde had first presented the concept while introducing the municipal budget two years ago, with the stated aim of creating a civic indoor sports facility that could serve residents of Vashi and neighbouring areas rather than only one ward.
According to the report, ruling BJP members opposed the Vashi proposal on the grounds that a sports complex should instead be built in the Airoli Assembly constituency. They also argued that the estimated cost of the Vashi project was too high. The report said Navi Mumbai currently has private sports facilities in Vashi and Belapur, but does not have a comparable municipal indoor sports complex.
The second proposal involved a parallel service road between the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters and the Air India Colony. The project’s original estimated cost was approximately Rs 54 crore, while the accepted tender value, including goods and services tax, was Rs 61.55 crore. The proposed road was intended to support traffic movement in the Belapur area as the city prepares for increased activity linked to the international airport.
BJP members objected that the road would end at the Air India Colony and therefore benefit only a limited area. They also argued that congestion involving heavy vehicles near Uran Phata would continue even after the project was completed. Senior members of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena reportedly supported the objection, following which the committee rejected the proposal.
Instead of the service road, House Leader Sagar Naik advocated constructing a flyover at the Apollo Hospital signal in CBD Belapur. According to the report, he said such a structure could improve movement towards Nerul, Uran Phata and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust area, including the movement of heavy vehicles towards the port.
The decisions place two different infrastructure approaches before the municipal corporation: a limited parallel road intended to improve local access, and a larger grade-separated junction intervention intended to manage several traffic flows. The standing committee’s rejection means that neither proposal, as presented, has received approval through the reported decision. The report did not specify a revised project schedule, a fresh tender process or a formal decision on the proposed flyover.
