Mumbai's port land acquisition: what to expect

Mumbai's 28 km long eastern coastline from Colaba to Wadala will soon become the largest chunk of land to be acquired by the congested business capital. A report on the reutilization of the port land was submitted by a land development committee to the central government last month, The Indian Express reported on Monday.

The total area set to be available for regeneration is pegged at Rs 1.25 crores, spanning 1,800 acres, which is almost one-tenth of the total area of South Mumbai. This development comes years after 400 acres of mill land was freed up for community housing and open spaces in 1992. ``The city of Mumbai is suffering from severe scarcity of land. So, any new piece of land is welcome by the citizens,'' says Dhruv Agarwala, co-founder, PropTiger.com.

The redevelopment of cotton mills in Mumbai started when a large number of cotton mills were demolished to make way for new residential and commercial complexes. While this has been an ongoing process, the land was mostly absorbed by commercial real estate developers and luxury housing projects neglecting affordable housing for the rest of the population. More than half of Mumbai's population – about 60 lakh people – occupy only six per cent of the city's land. Therefore, the usurping of mill lands has long been fuelling unequal distribution of wealth and resources in the city.

The Mumbai Port Trust will update port operations before releasing 1,080 acres for redevelopment. This is expected to decongest Mumbai's crammed streets and enhance connectivity apart from boosting affordable housing projects in the city. In 2002, Maharashtra government proposal to develop unused port land had come up for discussions but it later ran into bureaucratic hassles. The proposal picked up pace after push from the Union Minister of Shipping Nitin Gadkari.

The port regeneration plan focusses on creating open and green spaces for the public and ensuring good connectivity in the city through various modes of transportation. According to the plan, 30 per cent of the land is to be earmarked for parks, playgrounds and other such open spaces. Another 30 per cent would be earmarked for roads, transportation and social infrastructure. The rest will be utilized for promoting entrepreneurship, the fishing industry, offices, retail markets and finance centres. With this, Mumbai is poised t0 become the first Indian city to re-use its docklands in an innovative manner.

However, with the latest development, the areas around the port land are expected to register sharp hike in real estate prices. ``With this acquisition, the real estate markets of Wadala, Sewri, Byculla, Mazagaon and Parel will see get a boost in terms of prices because of their expected locational advantages,” says Dhruv Agarwala, co-founder, PropTiger.com.

Although it is too early to make precise predictions, the move is a timely opportunity for Mumbai to reclaim its open and green spaces and make way for affordable housing projects.

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