‘Patwardhan Park parking lot will affect 50-year-old Durga Puja’

The committee members have proposed aborting the car parking proposal and written to local MLA Ashish Shelar that the puja is attended by the third generation of locals, often along with their parents and grandparents

Mumbai: After Bandra residents opposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plan to build a parking lot below a plot adjoining Raosaheb Patwardhan Park, the members of local Durga Puja Committee too have raised objections to the move.

Mumbai, India - April 03, 2023: A view of Patwardhan Park, at Bandra, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, April 03, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

The committee members have proposed aborting the car parking proposal and written to local MLA Ashish Shelar that the puja is attended by the third generation of locals, often along with their parents and grandparents.

They said the annual festival has transformed into a glorious occasion over the past 50 years.

“The park is covered with 10 huge trees that provide a canopy of soothing shadow to visitors during the puja. Thousands of visitors enjoy daily langar every afternoon during the celebration in the comfort of the shade,” the letter stated. The proposed parking lot will put an end to the long-carried tradition, they said.

The letter stated that the road-level surface area of the park will be lost forever to the mechanism of the car park, including car lifts, entrance and exit.

“Although the BMC says it is an underground car park, it fails to mention that the plan will consume the road-level area as well. During the puja, all our members and visitors always manage to find parking spots in and around the area,” the letter stated.

A local said, “The Durga Puja celebration on this park ground drew people from far and near, of all faiths and communities. I have visited the puja every year, it is a social function, celebration of India’s rich culture and traditions. I am sure no authority will want to stop this. Not an inch of this park should be touched.”