Wadala Truck Terminal operations to be shifted

MMRDA looking at Dahisar and Mankhurd, plans to revamp WTT plot on lines of BKC

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to shift operations of the Wadala Truck Terminal (WTT) to Dahisar and Mankhurd. By doing this, the authority plans to completely revamp the WTT plot, which is spread over 115 hectares, on the lines of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC).

“The MMRDA is planning to build residential and commercial complexes on the truck terminal site and two commercial towers will be constructed for the transporters’ offices,” said a senior MMRDA official.

Another reason, according to MMRDA officials, for doing away with the truck terminal at Wadala is the authority’s desire to decongest traffic in the city by allowing truckers to have terminals for parking at Dahisar and Mankhurd, which are situated on the city limits, allowing truckers to exit the city easily.

The MMRDA is the special planning authority (SPA) of Wadala and it had allotted the WTT plot to the Bombay Goods Transport Association (BGTA), a truckers’ association that was formed in 1949 to protect, encourage and promote goods transport business, for utilising its space efficiently for parking trucks.

“The master plan for the project will be implemented, but there are some obstacles with the relocation of the truck terminus to Dahisar and Mankhurd, as the proposed site of the plot is under the jurisdiction of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the latter has no plans to provide its space to truckers,” said the official.

The plots identified for the truck terminal are with the civic body as octroi posts. There could be delays in acquiring land for the truck terminal, as the civic body does not plan to abolish levying octroi in the city.

“Not all trucks entering the city are being parked there (in WTT) and the space is simply being encroached upon by illegal transport offices, hence we came up with plan to take the land back,” the MMRDA official said.

The property rates in Wadala are rising every day with the proposed Wadala-Thane Metro-4 and the existing Monorail corridor, which is soon going to be commissioned till Jacob circle. Wadala also offers commuters easy access to the Eastern Freeway.

An inquiry conducted by the authority in December 2015, had uncovered several irregularities by the BGTA in terms of allotment of office spaces their own members.