Mumbai: Despite several controversies, the civic authorities have decided to carry on with their plans to develop a Mumbai Central Park on 300 acres of land, by combining the green spaces along the coastal road and the Mahalaxmi Race course.
The civic body will soon start the procedure to acquire over 120 acres of land for the 211-acre racecourse. However, before carrying out the work, the suggestions and objections will be taken into consideration, assured the civic official.
The lease on the Mahalaxmi racecourse land expired in 2013. So, the BMC had proposed to take over a part of the racecourse land to be turned into a “Mumbai Central Park” as a condition to renew the lease agreement of the land, which was in possession of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC).
As per the BMC's new terms, if 120 acres of land is handed over to the BMC, the remaining 91 acres of land will be given to the RWITC for the racecourse on lease for 30 years.
Earlier this month, the chief minister, Eknath Shinde, had also announced plans to develop a Mumbai Central Park on 300 acres of land, combining the green spaces of 170 acres on a coastal road and 120 acres of land for the racecourse.
On Saturday morning, the newly appointed municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani visited the racecourse and took a review of the work on the coastal road before starting work on the Central Park project.
He was also accompanied by an additional municipal commissioner, Dr. Amit Saini, deputy municipal commissioner (finance) Prashant Gaikwad, assistant commissioner (estate) Vinayak Vispute, assistant commissioner of G south ward Santosh Dhonde, chief engineer (Coastal road project) Girish Nikam and Niranjan Singh, Secretary of RWITC.
"The municipal commissioner took review of the Mahalaxmi racecourse and the area where the Central Park is proposed. He asked us about the future course of action and instructed us to carry out the measurement of the land that needs to be acquired for the project. The process of land acquisition will take atleast a month. However, the suggestions and objections will be taken into consideration before carrying out the work," said a senior civic official.
Gagrani visited the grass track, sand track and visitors' gallery. Meanwhile, he also took review of the work on the coastal road project at BinduMadhav Thackeray chowk.
The BMC has opened the south bound arm of the coastal road connecting Worli and Marine Drive in South Mumbai on March 12. Gagrani inspected the intersecting tunnels connecting the twin tunnels, as well as the underground tunnel constructed for northbound traffic. He instructed the officials as well as the project consultants to ensure that the project work is completed as per the schedule by May 31.
