BMC Proposes To Shift Mahalaxmi Racecourse From South Mumbai To Mulund Dumping Ground

The BMC proposes to ‘dump’ the Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mulund.

MUMBAI: The government is likely to offer the Mulund dumping ground and a private parcel next to it to the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) for shifting the Mahalaxmi Racecourse from south Mumbai.

The Mulund landfill, spread over 24 hectares, has been closed since 2018. Close to a decade after the RWITC’s lease of Mahalaxmi Racecourse expired, the BMC is set to write to the state government about its plan to take ownership of the land and convert it into a theme park.

The report further said, there is a view that an alternative land parcel must be given to the RWITC for the racecourse. The Mulund dumping ground and the private land next to it will be big enough to accommodate the racecourse and the other facilities,” said a senior state government official, adding that acquiring the private land may cost the BMC heavily as it will have to be bought at the current market rate.

The BMC proposes to ‘dump’ the Mahalaxmi racecourse in Mulund. “The BMC will have to acquire private land and then club it with the Mulund dumping ground, which is in the process of being scientifically closed to be converted into a green space,” said a senior state official. “It may not be feasible to buy private land and then hand it over for the racecourse.

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As operating the racecourse is not a public purpose, there may be opposition to spending public money to buy the private land.” When contacted, BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal told TOI that the Mulund landfill option was still at the “discussion and deliberation stage”. The racecourse is a Grade II-B heritage site, according to the 1995 Heritage Regulations of Greater Bombay.

In 1914, the BMC leased out the racecourse land to Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), which has been running it since. Of the 8.5 lakh sq m or around 210 acres of racecourse land (nearly 10 times the size of Oval Maidan), the BMC owns 2.5 lakh sq m, while the state owns the rest. Officials said that a BMC resolution was already passed in 2013 for converting the racecourse land into a theme park.

“There are plans to ask the state to hand over its portion of the racecourse land as well to the BMC, which it plans to holistically turn into a park,” said an official, adding that the civic body is simply going by what the house of corporators had demanded 10 years ago.

The BMC has not been accepting any rent since 2013 as officials said it would amount to a willingness to extend the lease, stated their legal team. The Mulund landfill, which was closed in 2018, had about 7 million cubic meters of waste, which was to be processed using scientific methods. “Enzymes were to be used to decompose the waste and reclaim the land within six years, but the work is not yet complete. Around Rs 650 crore is being spent on the processing of waste,” a senior civic official added.

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