India, May 29 -- By the year-end, 64 acres of prime real estate will open up for public use, setting off a scramble among commercial players eager to stake their claim. Fringed by the emerald mangroves of the Thane creek on one side and the Eastern Express Highway on the other, the land has become a magnet for soaring real estate ambition.

The land in question is the defunct Mulund dumping ground - raising a larger question over who gets to decide the future of land originally reserved for a public amenity.

The BMC says remediation efforts - effectively the closure of the dumping ground - will be complete by December. However, long before waste segregators and earth movers fall silent, plans are afoot for this colossal land parcel.

MLA...