Mulund Landfill Closure Extended to June 2025, BMC Warns Contractor
Mumbai’s Mulund dumping ground, a decades-old landfill, faces further delays in its closure as only 50 percent of the 70 lakh tonnes of accumulated waste has been processed. With the revised deadline set for June 2025, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has directed the contractor to significantly increase the pace of waste processing to meet the target.
The ₹731 crore project to shut down and remediate the Mulund dumping ground was initiated after its closure in October 2018. Using advanced waste management technology, the contractor was tasked with processing 11–12 lakh tonnes of waste annually. However, setbacks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and delays in obtaining necessary clearances postponed the start of the work to 2021. Currently, 8,000 to 9,000 tonnes of waste are processed daily—far below the target of 15,000 tonnes required to meet the June 2025 deadline. A senior BMC official noted, “We have extended the original deadline from October 2024 to June 2025. The contractor has been fined for delays and directed to deploy additional machinery to process the waste faster.”
During processing, over two lakh tonnes of scrap combustible fractions (SCF)—including plastics, fibre, and wood—were identified. The BMC is working on converting these materials into oil or pellets by establishing two on-site facilities, one of which is a Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) unit. This unit, with a capacity to process 200 tonnes of SCF daily, will produce pellets that can substitute fossil fuels in cement manufacturing. Currently, Mumbai generates approximately 6,300 metric tonnes of garbage daily. Of this, 5,500 metric tonnes are processed at Kanjurmarg, while 700 metric tonnes are sent to the Deonar dumping ground. As the second-largest landfill in the city, Mulund covers 24 hectares and has been operational since 1967. The BMC’s Solid Waste Management department has emphasised the urgency of ramping up efforts, stating that meeting the deadline is critical for the city’s waste management goals.
