Coastal Road ‘returns’ 6,000 sq m submerged land to Breach Candy Hospital and Club

With the hospital having staked its claim to the land, BMC is in the process of constructing a wall to demarcate the portion under lease to the hospital

Mumbai’s new Coastal Road has delivered an unexpected parcel of land to Breach Candy Hospital and the adjacent Breach Candy Club. The land – measuring around 6,000 square metres – was recently reclaimed from the sea as part of the Coastal Road mega-project. But there’s a catch. The newly reclaimed land has been built upon submerged land leased to the hospital and club before it went under water.

Coastal Road ‘returns’ 6,000 sq m submerged land to Breach Candy Hospital and Club

Records with the Collector’s office reveal that the land is owned by the Mumbai City District Collector. They also reveal an agreement going back decades, which shows that 2,900 sq m had been leased to the Breach Candy Hospital. The remaining 3,000 sq m (approx) was with the Breach Candy Club. The 6,000 sq m of land in question relates to the ‘foreshore’, that is, land between the high tide and low tide lines. It had been submerged for more than half a century.

With the hospital having staked its claim to the land (the Breach Candy Club has not yet come forward), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is in the process of constructing a boundary wall to demarcate the portion under lease to the hospital.

According to an official in the BMC’s Coastal Road department, “All land reclaimed for the Coastal Road belongs to the Mumbai City District Collector, who has told us that the hospital has a lease agreement for around 2,900 square metres of land behind the hospital. The agreement, which relates to the foreshore area, dates to the colonial British era.”

He said, “We had requested the Collector for this land but were turned down. Hence we are constructing a boundary wall around hospital’s 2,900 sq m to demarcate it. We will thus be able to work around it.”

The official added that another 3,000 sq mt of land, part of the same land parcel, has the Breach Candy Club named on the property card. “We have not yet been informed of their claim and hence haven’t begun work on the boundary wall there.”

According to an official from the Survey and Land Records department, “Decades ago, land behind the Breach Candy Hospital was leased to the hospital but, over time, it got submerged. Now that the BMC has reclaimed the land for the Coastal Road, it went back to being land. The hospital has now staked its claim to it.”

The BMC has reclaimed around 70 hectares of land for the Coastal Road. Of this, 50 hectares has been earmarked for open and green spaces. According to the BMC official, the land that has reverted to Breach Candy Hospital constitutes green space, which means construction on it will be restricted.

A doctor earlier associated with the Breach Candy Hospital management said there were plans to construct a 200-car parking lot on the land as this would benefit visitors to the hospital.

Dr Anirudh Kohli, CEO of Breach Candy Hospital, did not respond to calls and messages from HT, while Breach Candy Club has declined to comment