Mahul pumping station: BMC to pay Rs 5.8 crore for land for pump facility

The BMC has been struggling to acquire land for the pumping station. Pic/Ashish Raje

After nearly two decades, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) can finally hope to begin the construction of the Mahul pumping station in Chembur after the cost of the land was reduced from Rs 118 crore to merely Rs 5.8 crore. The project has remained only on paper for the past 17 years. The BMC has been struggling to acquire land for the pumping station, which was one of the eight such projects recommended by the Chitale Committee after the 2005 Mumbai floods.

The civic body had been in coordination with the salt commissioner, an entity of the Government of India, which owns the land. The officials had received a response from the salt commissioner in July 2022. After two years of follow-ups, with no progress, the BMC officials and the officials from the salt commissioner's office, held a video conference on July 3, 2024.

A civic official who attended the meeting said that the cost was cut down to R5.8 crore with the ready reckoner rate of the actual land. "The amount was calculated on different land CTS (City Title Survey Number) numbers. We informed the commissionerate about it," said a concerned official from the BMC. However, according to the new resolution by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the land for the public sector may be transferred at 10 per cent of the market value rate. Following this, the salt commissioner has reduced the cost to Rs 5.8 crore, the official said.

"The salt commissionerate has a policy under which the land for the public sector, including stormwater pumping stations, can be given at a 10 per cent cost. That will be a huge relief for the BMC and now we have to pay around R5.8 crore to acquire the land," said Abhijeet Bangar, BMC additional commissioner. He added that if the procedure is completed within a month or two, "…We will have enough time till next monsoon to start construction work as the contractor has been already selected."

The pumping station can solve the issue of waterlogging in Sion, Chembur, as well as Matunga. It will help drain out water from low-lying areas in L ward consisting of Chembur and Kurla with adjacent areas and also will be a big relief for harbour railway lines that get disrupted during flooding at Kurla and Sion, said another BMC official. The BMC has finalised a contractor for the project with an estimated cost of R400 crore on the 6.1-acre (around 25,000 square metres) salt pan land. It will take at least three years to complete the pumping station.

What has happened so far

The site initially chosen by the BMC for the Mahul pumping station is under the jurisdiction of the salt commissioner. Despite several requests over a decade, the civic body had not gotten a favourable response, forcing it to look for other spots. The BMC was to acquire land from a private party in December 2021. A tender was floated, but it was scrapped after six months as the land was declared to be a part of the no-development zone by the National Coastal Zone Management Authority in January 2022.

Commissioned pumping stations

>> Haji Ali
>> Irla (Juhu)
>> Love Grove (Worli)
>> Cleveland Bunder (Worli)
>> Britannia (Reay Road)
>> Gajdhar Bandh (Khar Danda)

What remains

Mogra (Andheri): The land dispute court is subjudice. The Bombay High Court recently ordered the construction after depositing land costs.

Mahul: After paying the land cost and settlement of an occupant, the BMC can start the long-pending pumping station.