Biological treatment at Mulund dumping ground in final stage, 60 acres of land to be reclaimed after years of delay

The ongoing biological treatment project at Mumbai’s Mulund dumping ground has now reached the final stage. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), processing of about 85 per cent of the nearly 70 lakh tonnes of waste has been completed and about 60 acres of land will be reclaimed from the site by December 2026.

This project, which started about five years ago, had to extend the deadline several times. In October 2018, BMC had awarded the contract to clean this dumping ground through bio-mining technology at a cost of Rs 731 crore. However, work continued to be affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, delays in administrative approvals and recent international circumstances.

According to BMC officials, more than 55 lakh tonnes of waste has been processed at the Mulund dumping ground by February 2026. For this, work was done with the capacity to dispose of 10,000 to 12,000 tonnes of waste per day.

However, the recent diesel shortage due to the ongoing conflict in the Gulf region has dealt a new blow to the project. The fuel crisis affected the operation of heavy machines, affecting the pace of bio-mining and waste processing.

An official said, “The contractor has already been given time extension four times. Now he has been directed to complete the remaining work soon, as no further extension will be considered. We are hopeful that the remaining 15 per cent work will be completed in the coming days, after which about 60 acres of land will be reclaimed this year.”

About 7,000 metric tons of garbage is generated every day in Mumbai. Of this, about 90 per cent of the waste is processed at the Kanjurmarg Processing Plant, while about 10 per cent of the waste is still dumped at the Deonar dumping ground.

The Mulund dumping ground, spread over 24 hectares, was operational since 1968 and was once considered the second largest landfill site in Mumbai. It was officially discontinued in 2018. After this, a plan was started to reclaim the land by removing old waste through eco-friendly bio-mining technology.

Officials said that biological treatment work is currently going on at Mulund and Deonar, two big old dumping sites of Mumbai. While the Mulund project is in the final stages, BMC has also issued letter of acceptance for disposal of around 185 lakh tonnes of waste at Deonar dumping ground.

The Municipal Corporation says that the completion of these projects will not only reduce environmental pressure, but will also benefit future urban plans due to additional land available in the city.

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