Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) secretary and Legislative Council member Milind Narvekar has demanded that a world-class hospital be built on the land that will be freed up after the closure of the Mulund dumping ground. Narvekar has written a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde regarding the proposal.
Narvekar said that although Mumbai is the country’s financial capital, cancer treatment facilities in the city are under severe pressure. Therefore, he argued, a new cancer hospital is urgently needed.
In his letter to the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister, Narvekar thanked the state government and the municipal administration for clarifying in the Legislative Council that no final decision has yet been taken on the future use of the nearly 60-acre reclaimed land in Mulund, and that only a feasibility study is currently underway.
He urged the government to seriously consider developing a world-class cancer treatment centre on a portion of this land.
Narvekar further suggested that a global-standard cancer hospital could be built on about 10 acres of the site with the support of philanthropic organisations such as Reliance Foundation, Tata Trusts, or the Godrej Group. Such a facility, he said, would significantly strengthen healthcare not only for Mumbai but for the entire Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Maharashtra.
Narvekar shared the details of the letter on social media.
Meanwhile, the state government clarified in the Legislative Council that no decision has been taken yet to build a golf course on the Mulund dumping ground. The government said scientific processing of the waste at the site is underway and 78.63 percent of the work to reclaim the land has already been completed. It also noted that the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has received several applications and suggestions from citizens regarding the future use of the land.
Narvekar had raised questions in the Legislative Council about whether the Mulund dumping ground, spread across about 60 acres, would be closed by 2026, whether there was a proposal to develop a golf course there after its closure, and whether local residents had opposed the idea and instead demanded a well-equipped hospital at the site.
Responding to these questions in his capacity as Urban Development Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde stated that the municipal corporation is currently carrying out scientific processing of the waste at the Mulund dumping ground through bio-mining, which is being handled by Biomining Pvt Ltd. He added that 78.63 percent of the land reclamation work has already been completed, and that the civic body has received multiple requests from citizens regarding how the land should be used once it becomes available.
Earlier, local MLA Mihir Kotecha had demanded that a golf course be developed on the 60-acre site located in Mumbai’s eastern suburbs. However, opposition leaders have argued that the land should instead be used for public facilities such as a park or a hospital for local residents.
The government has clarified that no final decision has yet been taken on how the reclaimed land will ultimately be used.