MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed constructing an underground pedestrian vestibule connecting the Mahalaxmi Racecourse or the Science Centre Metro station area on Line 3 with the Coastal Road’s Worli promenade. The 3.5-4-kilometer link aims to provide a safe and convenient connection for Metro commuters and pedestrians travelling towards the Coastal Road promenade.
Criticising the proposal, Congress group leader Ashraf Azmi questioned the decision to make BMC the primary funding agency for the project.
“We are not against pedestrian infrastructure but oppose placing another major financial burden on BMC,” Azmi argued.
“Mumbai needs infrastructure, but BMC cannot be the ATM for every infrastructure project. “We hope better sense prevails and public money is spent on projects that serve a larger public interest, including improving bus transportation, walkability in neighbourhoods, and maintaining parks and gardens through the corporation rather than leasing them out. “Beneath the proposed facility at Racecourse, an underground sports arena and banquet facility is planned, all of which constitute commercial activity. The existing Haji Ali Road, particularly the stretch towards the Racecourse, is already severely congested. With enhanced facilities in the area, traffic is likely to increase further. Gradually, if every small property is connected to the Coastal Road, it could become increasingly congested and defeat the very purpose of the project, which was to have fewer exits and enable faster movement between distant parts of the city,” added Das, underscoring the crowding on the promenade the present project is likely to create.
The party also pointed to the Centre-state-BMC cooperation that followed the July 26, 2005 floods. It cited the BRIMSTOWAD (storm water drains) project, for which the Centre approved ₹ 1,200.53 crore to assist Maharashtra, implemented through the BMC. Architect PK Das of PK Das & Associates, one of the over 100 professionals pushing back against the Mahalaxmi Racecourse redevelopment master plan under the Mumbai Architects Collective (MAC), argued against the pedestrian walkway.
“Why has similar Centre-state financial cooperation not been considered for this project, when both the Centre and Maharashtra government are currently under the NDA,” he asked. The state and central governments must share the financial responsibility for projects that serve the wider Mumbai region,” Azmi said. The city needs to move towards becoming a greener and more sustainable environment,” he said. Das said that merely increasing business turnover, as citizens are witnessing now, does not contribute to improving the quality of life in the city.
It sought details of the expected TOD Premium, the recovery timeline, the consequences of any shortfall and clarity over who would bear any cost escalation. The Congress has also questioned the proposal to recover the project expenditure through TOD Premium, arguing that future revenue cannot be treated as equivalent to funds available with the BMC today.
