India’s most ambitious urban renewal project has hit a snag
Five of seven statutory clearances are still pending; the Hyderabad-based contracted company said it had been informed late about key approvals, while a Mumbai civic body official said scrapping tenders now would only create more delays
The Deonar landfill as seen from Maharashtra Nagar, Mankhurd (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty). A showpiece Maharashtra government project to relocate a section of residents of Dharavi in Deonar – the site of the largest and oldest landfill in Mumbai – is stuck in a maze of red tape. Work has yet to begin on clearing a portion of the 99-year-old landfill – marking a delay of over six months from the original deadline – Right to Information (RTI) records obtained and investigated by The Indian Express show.
The records show the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) awarded a Rs 2,537-crore contract to clean up the landfill to Hyderabad-based Navayuga Engineering Company Limited (NECL). January 2026 was the deadline for all approvals to be obtained and work to begin, but five of the seven statutory clearances are still pending.
This delay raises fresh questions over the timeline for housing thousands of families on the Dharavi site.
All residents were to be handed houses within seven years of the masterplan approval in May 2025.
RTI records show the five clearances were applied for by NECL, via BMC, only after January 2026.
Given the delay, the BMC extended the deadline for work to start till March 31.
But with only one of the five pending applications being filed within the revised deadline, NECL sought more time – till October 30. Subsequently, the BMC extended the deadline again to September 30 while retaining the three-year completion timeline.
The bio remediation work is now likely to begin only by November, according to BMC records – leaving a big question mark over the 2029 completion deadline.
In October 2024 Maharashtra earmarked 124 acres in Deonar for rehabilitation housing under the Dharavi Rehabilitation Project (DRP), a joint venture between the state government and the Adani Group.
It was one of four alternate land parcels identified to relocate residents who are not eligible for free housing at Dharavi itself; these residents will be given houses on rent for 12 years after which the ownership will be transferred to them.
When asked about the delay in filing of applications, NECL said it was due to legal ramifications surrounding the environmental laws.
“The project involves freeing the land parcel from the existing mounds of waste. Initially, we were under the impression we would not require an environmental clearance (EC) for the project, as reclaiming the landfill is an environmentally friendly process,” the NECL spokesperson said.
Nothing illustrates the delay better than this sequence: applications for mangrove and wildlife clearances were filed only in April; the Union Environment Ministry was approached for a clearance only in May; and a petition seeking approval from the Bombay High Court is still under preparation, with the BMC appointing its counsel for the purpose only in June.
This Deonar land can be handed over for building apartments only after being fully bio-mined, with clearances being obtained in phases and each development cluster assessed separately.
An investigation by The Indian Express, published on April 11, 2025, first revealed that such a project ran contrary to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines, which bar housing, hospitals and schools even on a closed landfill.
When asked about commencing construction on the Deonar site, a spokesperson for Adani Navbharat Developers Private Limited executing the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, said, “Any construction work will begin only after all statutory green approvals are obtained and the site is certified by experts as safe and fit for habitation.”
On its part, the BMC said it doesn’t own the land since it was handed over to the state government in 2024, and that its role is limited to executing and monitoring the remediation. “The tender’s deadline was extended because the only alternative was to scrap it, float a fresh tender, and appoint a new contractor. That would have taken even more time and required us to seek fresh approval again. This is the first project of this scale and all permissions have to be in place before work begins,” BMC Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Solid Waste Management), Kiran Dighavkar, told The Indian Express.
The dumpsite, which sits along the Thane Creek separating Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, is a flamingo habitat adjoined by mangroves and tidal water bodies. The clean-up process mainly involves bioremediation – a process to treat garbage using natural elements like air, sunlight and microorganisms – and working on such an eco-sensitive zone requires seven approvals.
Five of these are now in limbo:
Pollution (1 cleared, 1 pending): Consent to Establish (CTE), which allows machinery and manpower on the site, was applied for on December 2, 2025, and granted by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) on January 25, 2026. Consent to Operate (CTO), which allows the start of the clean-up, was applied for on January 28, 2026, and remains pending with the MPCB.
Coastal (1 cleared): A No Objection Certificate (NOC), required since the site falls in the coastal zone, was applied for on February 26, 2026, and granted by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) on April 7, 2026.
Forest (2 pending): An NOC from the Mangrove Cell of the state’s Forest and Revenue Department, required since parts of the site lie within 50 metres of mangroves, was applied for on April 21, 2026, and is pending with the chief conservator of forests, Nagpur, the sanctioning authority. A second NOC, routed through the state’s wildlife board and required for work near a protected habitat, was also applied for on April 21, 2026, and is likewise pending with the chief conservator of forests, Nagpur.
Centre (1 pending): Clearance is needed from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change since the project falls in an eco-sensitive area. It was applied for on May 21, 2026, and is pending with the Ministry. Records show the Ministry sought details pertaining to existing site conditions, vegetation and water bodies, and baseline studies of waste accumulated, which were provided by NECL in a reply submitted on June 2.
Legal (1 pending): Clearance is required from the Bombay High Court, which had in 2018 barred work within 50 metres of mangroves, allowing exceptions for public projects that obtain its specific approval. This was applied for by the BMC on January 28, 2026, and is pending.
Pratip Acharya is a seasoned journalist based in Mumbai reporting for The Indian Express Read More
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