Mumbais Slum Redevelopment Plan Faces Landfill Fury

Mumbai’s ambitious Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) has come under intense scrutiny, with revelations indicating that the Maharashtra government’s approval to relocate a significant number of Dharavi residents to the Deonar landfill site appears to be in direct violation of established environmental regulations.

According to a report based on a Right to Information (RTI) response, the state government’s clearance for this move contravenes guidelines set forth by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), raising serious concerns about the health and well-being of the affected population and the environmental sustainability of the project. In October 2024, the Maharashtra government greenlit a proposal to relocate an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 residents of the sprawling Dharavi slum, one of Asia’s largest, to the Deonar landfill. This relocation is a key component of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), a large-scale urban transformation initiative spearheaded by the Adani group in collaboration with the Maharashtra government. The project aims to redevelop the densely populated slum into a modern urban enclave with improved housing and amenities.

However, the selection of the Deonar landfill as a relocation site has triggered significant alarm. The CPCB’s 2021 guidelines explicitly prohibit the construction of residential buildings, schools, and hospitals on or within a 100-meter radius of closed landfills due to the inherent environmental and health risks associated with such sites. Shockingly, the Deonar landfill is not even a closed waste disposal site; it remains an active dumping ground and has been identified as one of the top 22 methane emission hotspots in the country, releasing an alarming average of 6,202 kilograms of methane into the atmosphere every hour. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas with a significantly higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Adding to the complexity, the report highlights that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) handed over a substantial 124 acres of the 311-acre Deonar landfill to the state government for the DRP on September 27, 2024. Since this transfer, no new waste has been dumped on this particular parcel of land. However, this 124-acre area is estimated to contain nearly 8 million metric tonnes, or 40%, of the total solid waste currently accumulated at the Deonar dumpyard.

Previous reports had indicated that reclaiming land from solid waste through bio-mining, a scientific method endorsed by the CPCB involving waste segregation and natural degradation, would be a lengthy and expensive process, potentially taking a minimum of 6-7 years and costing over ₹1,000 crore under present circumstances. While the Maharashtra government had reportedly requested the BMC to undertake bio-mining at the site, the BMC transferred the 124-acre land parcel to the state government in an “as-is” condition, leaving the massive waste burden unaddressed. BMC officials have also expressed concerns about the feasibility of bio-mining due to the lack of alternative space within the city to dispose of the byproducts, estimating a much longer timeline of 12-14 years and a significantly higher cost of ₹2,500 crore if such a cleanup were to be undertaken. Interestingly, an April 2024 letter indicates that the Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited (NMDPL), the renamed special purpose vehicle of the Adani group responsible for executing the Dharavi project, had early on placed the onus of cleaning up the landfill on the BMC. This raises questions about the responsibility and accountability for preparing the land for residential use in an environmentally sound manner.

Further compounding the concerns are the existing and upcoming infrastructure projects in close proximity to the Deonar landfill, including a ‘Waste to Energy’ plant and a bio-CNG plant. Disturbingly, the report suggests that a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is yet to be conducted for the project, raising serious questions about the potential cumulative environmental and health impacts of locating a large residential population adjacent to an active and highly polluting landfill, alongside other waste processing facilities. While the Dharavi Redevelopment Project aims to transform Asia’s largest slum into a “modern urban enclave,” the prospect of relocating a significant portion of its residents to a site that violates environmental norms and poses potential health risks casts a shadow over the project’s vision of creating a sustainable and equitable urban environment. The stark contrast between the ambition of the redevelopment and the proposed relocation to a toxic landfill raises critical questions about the prioritisation of environmental sustainability and the well-being of the very residents the project intends to uplift. The authorities’ rationale for this decision and the long-term environmental and health implications for the relocated residents warrant urgent and thorough scrutiny to ensure a just and sustainable outcome for the Dharavi community.

Mumbais Slum Redevelopment Plan Faces Landfill Fury