Mumbai: A heated dispute has erupted between Breach Candy Hospital and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over a 6,000-square-metre reclaimed plot along the city’s west coast. The land, reclaimed as part of the Coastal Road Project, has become a point of contention, with the hospital claiming 2,300 sq m under an old lease agreement and the BMC asserting ownership for public use.
The Dispute
Breach Candy Hospital argues that the land was part of a leased property, now reclaimed, and plans to use it as a parking lot to ease congestion for its patients. Hospital CEO Dr. Anirudh Kohli emphasized the institute’s intent to decongest the area while also proposing to include trees and solar panels along the plot’s edges.
The BMC, however, maintains that the reclamation was funded by them and claims ownership. Moreover, the corporation had assured the Union environment ministry that reclaimed land not used for the Coastal Road would be dedicated to green public spaces.
Legal Questions
Two key questions may determine the outcome:
- Does the BMC’s financial contribution to the reclamation grant them ownership, overriding previous lease agreements?
- Can the land be repurposed for parking, given the 2017 approval conditions restricting reclaimed land to green spaces for public use?
The state revenue department is now tasked with resolving these questions.
Activist Opposition
Environmentalist Zoru Bhathena has launched a signature campaign opposing the hospital’s parking lot plans. According to Bhathena, the BMC’s 2016 proposal to the Union environment ministry stated that the reclaimed land would be transformed into green public spaces. This condition was crucial to the project’s approval in 2017.
Bhathena further alleged that the hospital has already utilized the FSI (Floor Space Index) from the unreclaimed land to construct its 11-storey wing, inaugurated in 2024. He intends to submit evidence of this to the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA), the collector, and the BMC.
Current Developments
The BMC’s coastal road department has begun constructing a boundary wall around the disputed land, signaling its intent to protect the reclaimed plot. Meanwhile, the Breach Candy Club, which owns the remaining portion of the plot, has yet to stake any formal claim.
The resolution of this case could set a legal precedent for future disputes over reclaimed land, particularly regarding the balance between public use and private claims.
