Scrapyard in Mahul will ease city’s eyesores

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) had handed over the plot, while the removal of encroachment (RE) department is yet to implement it

Mumbai The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may have found a solution to rid the city of unsightly pile-ups of unused vehicles in various parts. In a first, the civic body has acquired a 10,190.90-sq-metre plot of land in Mahul for a scrapyard. Abandoned and dead vehicles will be brought here and disposed of scientifically.

The Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA), which is contracted by BMC to find parking spaces in every ward and constituted under the city’s roads and traffic department, is also participating in this endeavour (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

Today they are unceremoniously dumped in its godowns in Worli, Andheri and Ghatkopar.

The civic body’s development plan (DP) department had set aside a plot specially for a scrapyard in Mahul in its DP (2034). The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) had handed over the plot, while the removal of encroachment (RE) department is yet to implement it.

A civic official from M (east) ward said, “The developer of the SRA project will get the transfer of development (TDR) benefits.”

The Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA), which is contracted by BMC to find parking spaces in every ward and constituted under the city’s roads and traffic department, is also participating in this endeavour. MPA comprises a team of policy, urban, transport and environment planners from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and is headed by advisor Dr Ramnath Jha, a retired Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer.

Prachi Merchant, who leads the TISS team told HT, “For a parking project for Mumbai, we had first suggested that the issue of scrapyard and dead vehicles also be looked into. City roads and under-bridges are littered with dead cars. Our team expressed the need for a reservation in the DP. We helped the DP department procure the land from SRA. Our objective is to ease the mobility on the road.”

A civic official from the RE department, however, said that the place is not usable right now as the approach road is flawed. He said, “We have written to the DP department about this. Even the plot inside is not in good condition.”

Merchant concurred, as she said, “The ward is supposed to construct a compound wall, while an access road needs to be constructed by the DP department. The scrapyard can become fully functional once that is completed.”

Merchant said the unused vehicles would be converted into raw materials scientifically – vehicle parts will be segregated after dismantling and made into small parts and recycled.

Ashok Datar, a transport expert, welcomed the move, stating unused cars were occupying roads for free, unlike vehicle owners who pay a fee to park on roads. “They gather dust and use up expensive space. This is simpler than waste segregation and must be implemented soon. Vehicles should be stripped in a scientific manner,” said Datar.

He added, across the world, such as Japan, China, USA and Europe, scrapping and recycling get serious attention, as they hazardous to the environment. “The cars have expensive components like steel, glass and precious metals which need to be recycled,” he said, adding citizens can incentivised to bring unused vehicles to the scrapyard. “Right now, there is no defined responsibility either for BMC or police to deal with this issue.”

Datar said that the need of the hour is for BMC to come up with an end-to-end solution so that nobody dares to abandon their vehicles, especially, especially since India is the sixth highest user of cars.

Pankaj Joshi, principal director, Urban Centre, Mumbai, also welcomed the move encouraging the civic body to look into repurposing land through such initiatives. “This will free up roads and footpaths where such vehicles are abandoned. Disposing of these discarded vehicles aptly is equally crucial. Owners should also be penalised for abandoning their vehicles, while those handing them over to the scrapyard must be awarded,” he said.

(With inputs from Ankita G Menon)