Mumbai: NGT Directs MMRDA To Obtain Prior Environmental Clearance For Entire 122.10-Hectare Wadala Notified Area
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, September 5, 2026: The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Western Zone Bench, has ordered prior Environmental Clearance (EC) for the entire 122.10-hectare Wadala Notified Area, holding that the large-scale redevelopment of the site falls within the ambit of the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification, 2006.
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In a judgment pronounced on September 3, the tribunal, presided over by Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh and Dr Sujit Kumar Bajpayee, asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) not to make any further allotments of land in the Wadala Notified Area without first obtaining environmental clearance for the entire project under the EIA Notification, 2006.
“The Project Proponent-Respondent No. 3 (Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA) shall obtain prior EC from the Competent Authority for Wadala Notified Area as the area admittedly exceeds 50 hectares… The Respondent No. 3 shall not make any further allotments of the land out of the said area without prior EC for the entire Wadala Notified Area in terms of EIA Notification 2006,” the order states.
Challenge To Wadala Development
The order came on an application filed by Arun Nathuram Gaikwad, who had challenged the development of the Wadala Notified Area on the ground that the 122.10-hectare township and area development project was being undertaken without the mandatory prior EC.
The tribunal noted that the project originally involved a truck terminal, ISBT and related infrastructure, but its purpose was subsequently changed. A 2019 government notification modified the development purpose to a commercial centre on the lines of the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).
Project Scope Triggered Clearance
The NGT held that this change in the scope of the project triggered the requirement for prior environmental clearance. The tribunal observed that the Wadala project had undergone several changes and expansions after the EIA Notification, 2006, came into force. The area was revised from 109.24 hectares in 2010 to 122.10 hectares in 2019.
Tribunal Examines EIA Requirement
“The main issue which we have to decide in this case is whether the project which is undertaken by the Respondent No. 3-MMRDA for development of the Town and Country Planning Project by the name Wadala Notified Area, which is exceeding 50 hectares of total built-up area, would require prior EC to be obtained by the Project Proponent in terms of Schedule 8(b) of the EIA Notification, 2006, or not."
“The contention of the learned counsel for the Project Proponent is that originally this plan was started in the year 1986; therefore, the same would not require any prior EC because it was a continuation of the same, while from the side of the applicant, it is being said that the said plan has undergone changes and expansion many times. Therefore, in view of the EIA Notification, 2006, if any change in the scope is found to be there, it would require prior EC."
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NGT Orders SDM Kolar To Ensure Encroachment Removal From Shahpura Lake“From the record, it becomes very clear that earlier there was a truck terminal at the site in question, which later on was changed to the commercial and residential project, and the total area has also undergone changes many times. Therefore, in terms of the EIA Notification, 2006, they certainly required prior EC to be obtained for any construction as per Schedule 8 of the EIA Notification, 2006,” the tribunal held.
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