Mulund dump cleanup gets fourth extension after missing 2024 deadline

3 min readMumbaiJun 5, 2026 06:02 PM IST

A view of the Mulund Dumping Ground as on 04-06-26 . (Express Photo by Deepak Joshi)

Weeks after Bio Mining India Private Limited sought an extension to complete work at the Mulund Dumping Ground, citing a diesel shortage triggered by the conflict in West Asia, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to grant the agency additional time to transport 7 lakh metric tonnes of processed waste. In a meeting convened on Thursday, the civic body also agreed to allow the agency to biomine an additional 10 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste.

This is the fourth extension granted to the firm, which was originally expected to complete the biomining project by 2024.

In 2018, the BMC awarded the contract to clear 70 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste at the closed Mulund dumping ground, with work commencing on the ground in 2019.

Mulund Dumping Ground. (Express Photo by Deepak Joshi)

The firm was subsequently granted three extensions, the first due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 13, Bio Mining India Private Limited wrote to the civic body seeking an extension to transport 7 lakh metric tonnes of the 70 lakh metric tonnes of processed waste from the Mulund dumping ground, citing a looming diesel shortage linked to the conflict in West Asia.

The contractor also sought additional time to clear 10 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste that had not been accounted for in the earlier survey.

While the BMC’s tender envisaged the clearance of 70 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste from the Mulund dumping ground, the civic body later identified over 10 lakh metric tonnes of additional legacy waste that remained to be processed.

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This is the fourth extension granted to the firm, which was originally expected to complete the biomining project by 2024.

(Express Photo by Deepak Joshi)

“The contractor has completed biomining of 70 lakh metric tonnes of waste but sought an extension to transport the processed material as it was facing challenges due to the diesel shortage. The company also requested time to clear the additional legacy waste,” a senior official said.

“Instead of floating a fresh tender, we are aiming to hand over the work to the same contractor at the existing rates,” the official added.

According to the civic body, work at the Mulund site is likely to be completed over the next six months, by December. The delay has been partly attributed to the monsoon season, during which biomining operations are halted.

Spread across 24 hectares, the Mulund Dumping Ground was once Mumbai’s second-largest waste disposal site. Operations ceased in December 2018 when the site stopped receiving municipal waste, following which the BMC launched efforts to reclaim the land by processing accumulated waste through biomining.

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At present, the civic body has processed more than 70 lakh metric tonnes of waste, accounting for about 70 per cent of the total legacy waste at the erstwhile dumpsite.