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NGT Orders Environmental Clearance For Mumbai’s Wadala Development Area
The National Green Tribunal reviewed a large development project in Wadala, Mumbai.
The project covers 122.10 hectares of land.
The tribunal said the project needs environmental permission before it continues.
It also told MMRDA not to allot more land until that permission is obtained.
The project was originally planned for a truck terminal, an ISBT, and related facilities.
Later, its purpose changed to a commercial centre similar to BKC.
The tribunal said these changes meant the project could not be treated as unchanged from its earlier plan.
The decision came after Arun Nathuram Gaikwad challenged the development.
The tribunal’s order was pronounced on September 3, 2026, according to the article.
The NGT ordered prior environmental clearance for the entire 122.10-hectare Wadala Notified Area.
MMRDA was barred from making further land allotments there until clearance is obtained.
The tribunal said project changes and expansions brought the development under the EIA Notification, 2006.
The site’s purpose changed from a truck terminal and ISBT to a commercial centre modeled on BKC.
The order followed Arun Nathuram Gaikwad’s challenge to the project’s development without prior clearance.
- Who
- The National Green Tribunal’s Western Zone Bench, MMRDA, and applicant Arun Nathuram Gaikwad.
- What
- The NGT ordered MMRDA to obtain prior environmental clearance for the entire Wadala Notified Area and barred further land allotments until then.
- Where
- The 122.10-hectare Wadala Notified Area in Mumbai.
- When
- The judgment was pronounced on September 3, 2026; the report is dated September 5, 2026.
- Why
- The tribunal found that the project had changed and expanded after the EIA Notification, 2006, bringing it within the prior-clearance requirement.
Tribunal and Applicant’s Position
MMRDA’s Position
Need for prior environmental clearance
Tribunal and Applicant’s Position
The tribunal held that the project required prior environmental clearance because it exceeded 50 hectares and had undergone changes and expansions.
MMRDA’s Position
MMRDA’s counsel argued that the plan began in 1986 and therefore continued as the same project without requiring prior clearance.
Effect of project changes
Tribunal and Applicant’s Position
The tribunal and applicant pointed to the shift from a truck terminal and ISBT to a commercial and residential project, as well as changes in total area, as triggering the EIA requirement.
MMRDA’s Position
MMRDA maintained that the development was a continuation of the original plan.
Further land allotments
Tribunal and Applicant’s Position
The tribunal directed that no additional land be allotted until clearance for the entire Wadala Notified Area is obtained.
MMRDA’s Position
The order prevents MMRDA from proceeding with further allotments until the required clearance is secured.
Key facts
- Area covered
- 122.10 hectares
- Environmental framework
- Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006
- Tribunal
- National Green Tribunal, Western Zone Bench
- Respondent/project authority
- Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority
- Restriction
- No further land allotments before clearance for the entire area
- Earlier area
- 109.24 hectares in 2010
- Later development purpose
- A commercial centre on the lines of Bandra-Kurla Complex
Quotes
National Green Tribunal, Western Zone Bench
The tribunal bench that adjudicated the environmental-clearance dispute
“From the record, it becomes very clear that earlier there was a truck terminal at the site in question, which later on was changed to the commercial and residential project, and the total area has also undergone changes many times. Therefore, in terms of the EIA Notification, 2006, they certainly required prior EC to be obtained for any construction as per Schedule 8 of the EIA Notification, 2006.”
freepressjournal.in
Sources
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