After Mumbai Eye shelving, giant LED sphere planned at Bandra Reclamation
Residents are opposed to the move, saying it is nothing but a bid to commercialise space on the seaward side of the sea link
Mumbai: Close on the heels of the shelving of the Mumbai Eye project, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has proposed to erect a giant LED sphere along the Bandra Reclamation promenade. Located close to the Bandra Worli sea link, the structure will redefine ‘Mumbai’s skyline’ and become a ‘monument’ to ‘a futuristic city’, says MSRDC. But residents are opposed to the move, saying it is nothing but a bid to commercialise space on the seaward side of the sea link, in violation of a 1999 order from the ministry of environment and forest.
MSRDC’s plan involves erecting a spherical structure with a diameter of 50 feet along the promenade, near the Yoga Statue garden. The sphere will be made of LED panels, and it will be mounted on a raised platform with LED screens measuring 40x40 feet on three sides and solar panels on one side.
All the LED panels will be used “only for the purpose of displaying advertisements” and propagating disaster management messages, patriotic messages and public awareness messages, says MSRDC’s project document, of which HT has a copy.
“The work also includes installation of vertical garden beneath the screens integrated with the drip irrigation system, solar panels and atmospheric water generation technology,” the document states. The structure will be developed in partnership with a private contractor on a build-operate-transfer basis for a period of 20 years.
“It will be on the lines of an eco-tourism iconic structure which shall add to Mumbai Skyline as a monument that will define Mumbai as a futuristic city,” MSRDC claims in the document.
But the move has caught residents’ groups in Bandra by surprise.
“We are strongly opposed to the erection of any such structure because the ministry of environment and forests, while giving clearance to the Bandra Worli sea link project in 1999, had clearly stated that no commercial or residential activity would be allowed on the seaward side of the road,” said Vidya Vaidya, chairperson, Bandra Reclamation Area Volunteers’ Association (BRAVO).
Earlier, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had proposed to build a giant ferris wheel in the same area, which was to be called Mumbai Eye. In May 2023, MMRDA sought to appoint a project management consultant for a technical feasibility report on the project, but it was shelved following resistance from Bandra Reclamation residents.
Despite the environment ministry order cited by Vaidya, several attempts have been made to commercialise the space on the seaward side of the sea link. In 2017, a few floatels were opened in the area next to the toll plaza. Some of them continue to remain in operation barring the monsoon months, especially after one of the floatels sank in May 2018.