The Indian Express 26.03.2013
5 corporates show interest in beautifying Mithi promenade
As part of their corporate social responsibility, at least five major corporate houses have evinced interest in beautifying the Mithi river promenade by developing gardens on the 1.5-km stretch alongside Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).
Companies such as Reliance Industries, Standard Chartered and the Keystone Group have submitted proposals to Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the special planning authority for BKC, to develop gardens along the banks of Mithi.
Godrej and the Jindal group have also expressed interest in sprucing up the promenade, but have asked for time to prepare and submit a concrete proposal.
"Since it is part of a corporate social responsibility initiative, we are most likely to give them two or three days more to submit their proposals. We will set up a committee which will scrutinise the proposals and act on them in the next one month," said an MMRDA official.
"Once that is done, we will give the companies six months to execute the work. The onus of maintenance of the gardens will also be on the companies for a specific period," he added.
In January, MMRDA had invited proposals from private parties and non-governmental organisations to embellish the Mithi river promenade.
About six km of Mithi river from Mahim Causeway to CST bridge falls under MMRDA's jurisdiction. The authority has beautified a small portion of this stretch from the beginning of BKC up to E block of the complex. Besides, a considerable portion of the remaining stretch is covered with mangroves, leaving about 1.5 km where there is scope for landscaping.
To ensure that the beautified riverside looks uniform, MMRDA first engaged a design consultant that came up with a standard drawing for the promenade. The design is similar to the work done by MMRDA.
The total area to be beautified — about 10 hectares — has been divided into 10 sections, which will be handed over to either the same or separate corporate bodies for development.
"Reliance Infrastructure has submitted a proposal for all sections, while Standard Chartered and Keystone have sent proposals to develop two sections each. Godrej has also expressed willingness to develop all sectors," the official said.
