The Turbhe waste management project in Navi Mumbai faces relocation after Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed Navi Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde to examine alternative sites and submit a detailed report on the project’s approvals and alleged irregularities. The Urban Development Department has also asked the municipal administration to report on where the project could be shifted and to address questions raised about the project already approved at Turbhe.
The direction followed a complaint by Thane MP Naresh Mhaske, who raised objections to the project’s site selection, environmental permissions and tender process. The intervention has put the future of a project that has been backed by the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation administration under renewed scrutiny, while local opposition to the proposed facility continues.
The Turbhe site is surrounded by a substantial residential population. Local corporator Suresh Kulkarni has said he does not oppose waste processing in principle, but has argued that such a facility should be located away from densely populated areas. He has also called for a comparative study of an alternative CIDCO site located approximately two kilometres from the Turbhe waste ground.
The dispute has become a significant point of conflict between the BJP and Shiv Sena factions in Navi Mumbai’s ruling establishment. Shiv Sena leaders have previously alleged in the general body that the civic administration was pushing ahead with the project despite objections from local representatives. BJP leaders have strongly rejected those allegations, and personal accusations were also made against House Leader Sagar Naik during the dispute.
Mhaske’s complaint questioned whether the project design provides the required distance from residential areas and maintains an adequate buffer zone. It also cited possible risks associated with odour, leachate, gases and particulate matter generated during waste processing. These concerns have not been established as findings against the project, but they form part of the issues the Urban Development Department has asked the municipal administration to examine.
The MP has additionally sought clarity on whether the necessary environmental permissions and consents from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board have been obtained. Questions were also raised about the detailed project report, government-level approvals and permissions required for the public-private partnership process. The eligibility of the contractor named in the tender and the justification for fees proposed for the consultant agency are among the other matters cited in the complaint.
The immediate administrative outcome is an order for the municipal commissioner to prepare and submit a detailed report. Until that assessment and the department’s review are completed, the relocation question, the validity of the project’s approvals and the future of the Turbhe site remain under consideration.
