The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has issued a notice to Larsen & Toubro for allegedly using debris from private construction sites to fill land along the southern stretch of the Mumbai Coastal Road, despite tender conditions requiring material from authorised sources.
The land parcels are located between Haji Ali and Priyadarshini Park, where the reclaimed areas are intended to be developed into gardens and public open spaces. The BMC has asked L&T to explain the alleged violation.
According to the civic notice, the issue was detected during a routine inspection. The BMC said an examination of challans and vehicles found that earth and excavation material used for filling activities was being brought from private building construction sites.
“On enquiry and verification of challans and vehicles, it was revealed that the earth/excavation materials used for carrying out filling activities are being brought from private building construction sites,” the notice said.
The civic body said its solid waste management rules require filling work to use soil and stone chips sourced from stone quarries. It also pointed to the project’s tender conditions, which require filling material to be procured from authorised quarries and approved sources with valid permissions.
“Therefore using unauthorised items for filling work is a violation of contract,” the notice stated.
The matter is significant because the disputed parcels form part of the land reclaimed for the coastal road project. The 10.58-km road was opened to the public in March 2024 after 111 hectares were reclaimed from the Arabian Sea. Of the reclaimed area, 40 hectares has been used for roads, interchanges and bridges, while about 70 hectares consists of land parcels identified for gardens and open spaces.
The use of material from private construction sites also places the coastal road’s public-realm development within Mumbai’s wider construction and debris-management framework. Under the rules cited by the BMC, material used for filling cannot simply be sourced from building excavation activity unless it meets the required permissions and procurement conditions.
The notice does not establish the final outcome of the matter. L&T has been asked to respond to the BMC and explain the alleged breach. The civic action will now depend on the company’s reply and the authority’s subsequent determination regarding the source and compliance status of the material used.
The future of the affected land is linked to the city’s plan to create public spaces along the coastal road. In August 2025, the BMC appointed Reliance Infrastructure Limited to develop and maintain gardens along the project. The parcels between Haji Ali and Priyadarshini Park therefore remain part of a broader transition from reclaimed project land to planned public open space.
