Mulund, SoBo residents cautious about dumpyard transforming into racecourse

Mumbai: An army of excavators, trucks and trommels are busy quarrying what remains of the approximately six million tonnes of waste dumped at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) now defunct landfill on the banks of the Thane Creek, in Mulund East – you don’t need to be there to know it exists. The stench-imbued air wafting across miles speaks of the wasteyard that existed here until 2018.

Despite BMC’s remedial measures, the plot of land resembles a giant mountain of garbage. It is, therefore, fascinating that this is likely to be the new home of Mumbai’s racecourse, presently situated at Mahalaxmi. Furthermore, when the biogas plant in Kanjurmarg is turned on, foul odour hangs in the air till after midnight, which is not likely to rub off well on racing regulars.

For now though residents of the nearest residential areas of Neelam Nagar and Hari Om Nagar, are chuffed at the prospect of their properties’ equity soaring in future. Bharat Soni, a local resident and secretary of Hillside Residents Welfare Association is hopeful that the area might attract the affluent crowd in future.

“Property prices would go up significantly. For many years, Neelam Nagar and Hari Om Nagar have been burdened by unsold inventory, poor resale value of houses and a weak rental market because of the stink from the landfill. Despite corrective measures, it impacts the profile of the area,” said Soni.

Unlike Soni, a long-time resident of the neighbourhood, who anonymously runs the Twitter handle @mulund info (with close to 7,000 followers), did not miss the irony of BMC’s proposal, as he stated it was “comical to think SoBo’s wealthy and elite making the trip up to Mulund for a day at the races”. With faux-sobriety he then dwelt on the “traffic issues that might arise when the land is leased out for functions, concerts and weddings”.

Incongruous with the ironic optimism of the northern suburbs is SoBo’s sheer disdain. Leading the pack is Aaditya Thackeray, former minister in the MVA government and current Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, who on Monday said his party would fight to protect every inch of one of Mumbai’s last remaining urban open spaces. He tweeted: “Khokhe sarkar now has plans to sell the racecourse land along with Worli Dairy. Uddhav Thackeray proposed a Hyde Park-like venue for Mumbaikars at the racecourse. Everyone can walk there for free and have access to a green space. We hear that the government wants to give this space up for commercial interests but we will not allow it.”

Mirroring this sentiment, Nayana Kathpalia, SoBo resident and trustee of NGO NAGAR, which works to save open public spaces and resolving civic issues said, “No construction should be allowed here, nor should there be theme parks. ‘Theme Park’ is a general concept that can embrace any kind of development. We are opposed to it.”

Twitterati has termed the move “abominable” and “nutty”. “What does BMC mean by ‘moving’ the open space to Mulund? The dumpsite should be used regardless of the racecourse, to provide an accessible, open space to the residents living there. Instead of developing the space on its own merits, BMC wants to cash in on it,” said Sumaira Abdulali, who runs civic NGO Awaaz Foundation.

Mistrust, however, is a sentiment shared by many citizens from both ends of the city. As Sumedh Deshpande, an entrepreneur and a long-time resident of Neelam Nagar, said, “It’s all up in the air for now. There is no plan in the public domain or proposal sent to the state government. Take it with a pinch of salt till tenders materialise.”

A senior official from the state urban development department said they have been told in an informal interaction by BMC that a proposal is expected seeking approval of the state government for the move. It might however not be Mulund. “We have yet to receive an official proposal or any communication from the civic body,” he said.