Hazardous construction waste from one of Mumbai’s major infrastructure projects, the Orange Gate–Marine Drive twin tunnel project, has allegedly been discharged into civic drains, raising concerns over drainage blockages and environmental violations.
A four-day investigation by Mumbai Mirror found tankers carrying slurry from the excavation site allegedly travelling under the cover of darkness and releasing concrete-laden waste into drains at Darukhana, around 2 km from the project site. The waste was reportedly meant to be transported to an authorised dumping location outside city limits.
The twin tunnel project is being executed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). While subcontractors are involved in on-ground operations, their identities could not be established.
The investigation began after information surfaced that tankers carrying construction slurry from the Orange Gate site were allegedly not reaching the designated dumping ground. Instead, they were reportedly making repeated trips to a roadside location near Darukhana, where the material was emptied into municipal manholes late at night.
The Mirror team monitored the movement of vehicles over four nights from July 6. Due to heavy rainfall and traffic disruptions on the first night, tracking operations were affected. However, from July 8 onwards, the movement of tankers was documented.
On July 8, around 11.30 pm, a tanker bearing registration number MH 04 GE 7532 was followed from the Orange Gate site to a road near Atlas Mill Compound in Darukhana. The vehicle was seen positioned above a manhole, where another tanker was already unloading material. After emptying its contents, the tanker returned to the construction site, collected another load, and repeated the same route through the night.
On July 10, similar activity was observed, with tankers including NL 01 AD 3549, DD 01 S 9924 and MH 20 EL 9886 allegedly unloading construction waste at the same location. Each unloading operation reportedly took around 10 minutes, indicating a continuous cycle of transportation.
On July 11, when questioned, the driver of tanker MH 20 EG 4512 claimed that the discharged material was rainwater collected from a nearby factory. Another person at the site said the liquid was wash water from cleaning the tankers after use.
A BMC official told Mirror: “We will investigate the matter, and if it is found that liquid waste is being discharged into the drain, appropriate action will be taken.”
Source: Mumbai Mirror
