Click to play videoMumbai: As political parties battle it out to capture the control of Mumbai's civic administration, the city's neglected waterfronts are back on priority, being poised for a makeover. But the question is whether plans to transform the island's coast's will ever become a reality.
The world's biggest cities including New York, London, Sydney and Tokyo are often defined by their popular waterfronts. Mumbai's 60-km long coastline on the other hand has long been neglected. It is barren on the west and squalid on the east. A plan drawn up by a prominent city architect was meant to provide the city with much-needed open spaces. But the plan never made it off the drawing board.
Several years of ambitious plans came later, but Mumbai remains sorely lacking in developing its coasts. A plan for a stretch of Dadar-Prabhadevi beach has been languishing on paper since 2007, like many other plans and all thanks largely to a lethargic civic administation.
Urban planner PK Das said, "Developing a beach nourishment programme is not sexy enough for the BMC or contractors or development agencies because there is no turnover game in it."
But now, waterfronts are slowly becoming a top priority once again. PK Das is on the BMC's expert panel for a new 29-km coastal road on the western waterfront that promises over 50 hectares of open spaces and recreational hubs, in addition to an 8-lane expressway. The plan is awaiting approval from the Environment Ministry, despite a few detractors.
Transportation analyst Sudhir Badami said, "The open spaces are not accessible enough for most of the people who live in the interiors of the city."
It's yet another plan, but if converted into reality, it could change the landscape and livability of the city.
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