Civic body looks to put 44 acres of its 5 octroi nakas to use

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which owns five erstwhile Octroi nakas spread across 44 acres in the city, is exploring if these land parcels can be used for residential purposes, or be put to commercial use, such as bus or truck terminals. The civic body has decided to appoint a consultant to study the various options available for the redevelopment of Octori naka land parcels.

Ever since Octroi was abolished with the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017, five Bmc-owned land parcels — 24, 628-square metre (sqm) area in Dahisar; a 18,125-sqm plot of land in Mulund (West); another 72,272-sqm plot in Mulund; 35,000sqm plot near Airoli; and a 29,774sqm plot in Turbhe — have been lying unused. While the Development Plan (DP) (2034) has reserved some of these plots for commercial use, others have not been reserved for any particular purpose yet.

BMC had been mulling several facilities at these plots, such as toll naka, bus terminal depot, truck terminal, etc. Now, it is also looking at residential projects.

The consultant will have to examine whether the possible projects will be able to adhere to environmental norms as some of the Octroi land parcels come under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.

Surendra Borale, municipal architect, BMC, said, “The role of the consultant will be to prepare feasibility report for various models and use of the Octroi naka land. They will have to suggest a viable financial model for the operations of the proposed activity.”

According to BMC officials, the scope of the study has been kept open, and the consultant can