Mumbai's Redevelopment Rush Becoming A 'Drug' As Towers Rise But Roads Remain Narrow, Experts Warn
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai: Mumbai and its metropolitan region (MMR) are paying a growing ecological and social price for relentless urban expansion, driven by high-rise redevelopment, a liberal Floor Space Index (FSI) regime and data centres, experts warn.
At the seminar “Towering Crisis: The City We Are Rebuilding”, held at Mumbai Press Club on Thursday, the speakers called for a rethink of the development model before mounting pressure on infrastructure, water resources and open spaces causes irreversible damage. It was organised by NatConnect Foundation and moderated by its founder, B N Kumar.
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"We are exhausted with land. The redevelopment spree has become a sort of drug. While land is not available, the housing complexes are becoming taller while grappling with roads of the same width as earlier and compounding water crisis,” said Gurbir Singh, a veteran journalist and founding member of Nivara Hakk, a non-profit housing rights organisation. He added that the decades of unplanned development have left Mumbai struggling to accommodate its growing population.
Debi Goenka, Executive Trustee of Conservation Action Trust, said that the development trajectory was ignoring the city’s ecological limits while disproportionately benefiting builders and politicians. "What we are seeing is not development but ‘devilopment’. A handful of builders and politicians are getting benefited out of it. The base FSI has been increased from 1 to 4. There is something called the carrying capacity. The development that Mumbai is witnessing is not scientific,” he said.
Urban sprawl extends across MMR
The discussion also covered the MMR, which extends into substantial parts of the neighbouring districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad. Stalin D, founder of environment NGO Vanashakti, said, "Expanding urban centres are reproducing the same congestion they were meant to address. Navi Mumbai, originally developed to decongest Mumbai, has itself become congested," he said. "The proposed Third Mumbai around the Navi Mumbai International Airport in Raigad district, followed by plans for a Fourth Mumbai in Palghar, risk extending the cycle of urban sprawl."
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Experts also highlighted the need for citizens to understand the planning frameworks governing urban development, including the Development Plan (DP), Development Control and Promotion Regulations (DCPR) and Comprehensive Accessibility Plan (CAP). Prerna Yadav, from Urban Design Research Institute, said, "While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is responsible for key aspects of Mumbai’s civic planning and administration, coordination among the people and agencies involved remains inadequate."
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Water security concerns intensify
Subhajit Mukherjee, founder of Mission Green Mumbai, warned that rainfall uncertainty and the prospect of continuing El Niño conditions called for urgent planning, particularly through wastewater reuse. Pointing to the rainfall deficit in 2026 and concerns about the following years, he said, “The next 24 months are going to be tough.”
The discussions underscored the need to align urban growth with ecological limits and ensure that redevelopment keeps pace with housing needs, water security, open spaces and essential infrastructure.
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