Missing master plan stalls MU campus upgrade

A professor residing on campus said both academic buildings and staff quarters were in dire need of repairs

Mumbai: A part of the ceiling plaster in CD Deshmukh Bhavan inside University of Mumbai’s (MU) Kalina campus collapsed on Friday morning, highlighting how aging buildings on campus are turning into safety hazards. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) was assigned responsibility for developing campus infrastructure in 2018, and a consultant was appointed in 2019 to draw up a master plan. But six years down the line, the master plan is nowhere to be found, while MU and MMRDA officials are busy passing the buck despite a nudge from the governor’s office.

During the previous senate meeting, members protested with placards outside the campus, calling for urgent action.

“There was another plaster collapse incident at the sports complex in February. Several buildings here require urgent repairs,” Pradeep Sawant, a senate member of MU representing Yuva Sena (UBT), told Hindustan Times.

A professor residing on campus concurred, saying both academic buildings and staff quarters were in dire need of repairs. “We have sent multiple letters to the vice-chancellor and chief engineer, but no major repair work has been initiated. Instead, we are repeatedly given false hopes about redevelopment of the campus,” the professor told HT.

Missing master plan

MU’s Kalina campus has 61 buildings, most of which were constructed in the 1970s and 1980s and are in a dilapidated condition. In 2015, the university’s development committee recommended a host of urgent measures to address the issue, including immediate demolition and reconstruction of Ranade Bhavan, which houses various departments and a lecture hall.

“The building is still standing, and in a dangerous condition,” said Sawant, who was then part of the development committee.

In 2018, the state government appointed MMRDA to develop the 243-acre Kalina campus into an integrated, world-class educational facility. In August 2019, MMRDA hired a Delhi-based consultant to draft a detailed master plan at a cost of ₹1.12 crore, as per information obtained by activist Anil Galgali in January 2023 under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

But HT was unable to locate the master plan despite checking with multiple sources, while

MMRDA and MU officials claimed that each was waiting for follow-up action from the other party.

“The master plan is ready. But the process can move forward only after the university approves it,” an MMRDA official told HT.

But an MU official said the university was yet to receive the master plan. “We have been following up with the MMRDA regularly, and were optimistic after the governor held a meeting two months ago. But nothing has changed,” he said.

Sources said officials from the state the higher and technical education department and MMRDA held a meeting at Raj Bhavan in January 2025. At the meeting, MMRDA officials assured MU that the master plan would be presented within two weeks. But the promise did not translate into action.

Demand for payment

After the MMRDA was tasked with development of the university campus, MU transferred 34,715 square meters (8.5 acres) of land to the planning body for construction of two key roads – a four-lane elevated road from the Bharat Diamond Bourse junction in Bandra Kurla Complex to the Vakola junction, and a 30-metre-wide, 400-metre-long road for additional connectivity between Bandra Kurla Complex and the Santacruz Chembur Link Road.

While work on the roads has not started, a section of MU officials and students are now demanding that MMRDA pay the university for the land, and the university carry out urgent repairs on old buildings on its own using this money.

“We have been asking the MMRDA to pay the university ₹1,200 crore for the land in almost every senate meeting,” said Sawant. “At the last meeting, we even protested with placards outside the campus, calling for urgent action. But nothing seems to move the authorities.”

(With inputs from Ateeq Shaikh)