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Mumbai Makeover: A facelift waiting to happen
Published on Mon, Mar 03, 2008 at 08:55, Updated on Mon, Mar 03, 2008 at 16:46 in Nation section
Tags: Mumbai Makeover, Civic Issues , Mumbai
NO ROOM FOR A VIEW: A vision can turn around the Maximum City's waterfronts.
Mumbai: While sun piercing through the waterfronts of Auckland, New York and Shanghai provides sparkling views, the sunrise over Mumbai isn't quite as flattering.
Mumbai's waterfront – both on the east coast and the 62-km stretch on the west from Colaba to Versova – stinks with sewage belched from the city’s industrial and commercial centres.
But a vision can turn around the Maximum City's waterfronts.
Architect Hafeez Contractor presented a detailed, “city-redesign” model to the state in 1999. Greeted with enthusiasm at first, it has since fallen through the gaps of political will.
“People always paint land reclamation as being something bad, even though other countries do it to beautify their cities. Look at Bandra reclamation where people enjoy the city's natural beauty. That is reclaimed land,” he says.
Be it a victim of apathy or controversy, Contractor's design itself is breathtaking, something Mumbai could well aspire to by 2020.
Spanning the western waterfront, the design creates scenic routes for families and sports enthusiasts.
Around 10 nodal points form the focus of the design, with revenue-generating business hubs and community centers.
The Drainage channel at Mahim is given structure and a distinctly Indian identity, the barren Mahalakshmi coast turns into a night-time spectacle.
The Nehru Centre buzzes with an artistic plaza for families and at August Kranti, fountains and walkways turn into a paradise for senior citizens.
Respite for a suffocating public and a skyline uniquely Indian will take only two years. The total cost of such a project - involving re-silting, reclamation, and beautification – will just be a few hundred crores.
In 1999, local neighbourhoods had volunteered to take up the cost of their area for this proposal. Today, the people may still be willing, but the state is still getting its basics together.
Says Urban Development Secretary, Sanjay Ubale, “Yes it was three years ago that we received this vision, before that all agencies were only doing something or the other, but the concentrated effort started only three years ago.”
But the goldmine gathering dust will take some more time to actualise. 2020 is still 12 years away.
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Good to hear that. Scenic routes, business hubs, community centers. Watch that picture posted again, what are they going to
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