Urban News

Hindustan Times  28.10.2010

Even two years after the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) handed over the Marine Drive stretch to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for beautification, work had not even begun. Now, with less the two weeks before the US President Barack Obama’s scheduled visit to the city, the civic body has frantically started spruce-up efforts.  The divider that was part of the beautification was handed over to BMC without much work done on it, now the civic body will be planting new trees, taking out debris from the divider and painting it.

“The divider and parts of the promenade needed to be upgraded. Now, we will have to complete the work by October 30,” a senior civic official said.

The civic body is also undertaking levelling and painting of medians and strips along the border of the seaface.

The civic body is also getting grilles and gates of buildings near Worli Sea face painted. On Wednesday afternoon, civic staff were spotted painting the grilles of Narayan Pujari Nagar society in Worli. “The civic body has asked us to paint the grilles of buildings abutting the seaface before the US president’s visit,” the worker said.

The officials said the BMC had written to the BEST to make sure that all street lights in Marine Drive, Nariman Point, Gateway of India and Colaba are working.

The civic body also added that if conservancy workers were on leave during Diwali, other private labourers would be appointed or staff from other wards would be diverted for the purpose.

Special attention will be given to garbage collection and disposal from these areas. Conservancy workers in most areas around south Mumbai work in two shifts, but BMC will increase shifts if needed.

Hindustan Times  28.10.2010

A year after Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society was first proposed, in a rare show of unity state and city agencies jointly approved the amalgamation of part of a road into the plot on which the society stands. This arrangement reduced the width of Captain Prakash Pethe Marg from 60.97 mt to 18.40 mt.

Initially, one part of the road was added to the plot, another to an adjoining military parade ground, another to a garden and yet another to a proposed helipad. Eventually, all these zones were merged into the plot on which the society stands.

This came to light in a Right To Information query filed by activist Yogcharya Anandji. The agencies involved, according to the reply filed by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), were the Development Plan Department, MMRDA itself and the Urban Development Department. Devendra Desai, chief engineer of the Development Plan Department, refused to comment. Principal Secretary (Urban Development) TC Benjamin’s phone was unavailable. MMRDA officials said they would look into the matter.

Hindustan Times has a copy of the state notification dated April 10, 2002, by which the road’s modification was approved. HT also has a copy of the letter written by the Defence Estates Officer of the Mumbai Circle, dated March 30, 2000, which states that the society fell outside defence jurisdiction.

The proposal to reduce the road’s width was pushed despite the fact that defence personnel regularly use it, as do civic buses.

“Will any of these agencies explain why a proposal to narrow the road’s width was accepted?” said Anandji.