BMC floats tender to build parking lot under Patwardhan Park

The cost of the parking lot has been pegged around ₹75 crores and is expected to be ready in 24 months, excluding the monsoons.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has floated a tender and has decided to build a parking lot below Patwardhan Park (Raosaheb Patwardhan Udyan) in Bandra (West).

The tender floated by BMC is a part of this year’s budget to create parking lots below the open parks in the city. BMC in its budget had mentioned that to avoid the parking and related traffic congestion faced by the citizens of Mumbai, it will soon make available underground and above-ground parking spaces operated by Mechanical Robotic Parking Systems in the open spaces of its parks, playgrounds etc. (Satish Bate/HT PHOTO)

The cost of the parking lot has been pegged around ₹75 crores and is expected to be ready in 24 months, excluding the monsoons.

P Velrasu, additional commissioner (projects), said, “We assure that the garden users will not have any disturbance in the existing garden/park. Only a barren plot will be utilised for making this underground parking lot.”

Patwardhan Park is spread over 18,868 square metres, out of which 2,137 square metres will be used up for the parking lot – which is estimated to accommodate 228 cars. BMC said that the project will not disturb any trees.

The tender floated by BMC is a part of this year’s budget to create parking lots below the open parks in the city. BMC in its budget had mentioned that to avoid the parking and related traffic congestion faced by the citizens of Mumbai, it will soon make available underground and above-ground parking spaces operated by Mechanical Robotic Parking Systems in the open spaces of its parks, playgrounds etc.

Activists, however, have objected to the corporation’s idea of having a parking lot below the park and have decided to rope in more locals and do a walk around the park on Sunday.

Residents said that BMC has enough unutilised parking lots and parking lots encroached by hawkers in and around the area which the BMC can investigate first.

Environmental Activist Zoru Bhathena has come out strongly against the BMC’s plan to create a parking lot below a park. He said, “BMC’s claim that Linking Road has a parking problem, is not true. There are many parking lots available, these are inside the malls. These parking lots are either encroached on or made into shops or some of them are locked. BMC should first look at making these parking spaces available.”

HT in its report on March 5 mentioned that, after facing strong objections from locals, BMC is considering changing its plans and not creating a parking lot below Pushpa Narsee Park in Juhu.

“BMC also needs to look at removing hawkers from Linking Road which blocks a huge space of the road. If this is done, a lot of space will be made available,” said Bhathena adding that there is also an auditorium at Patwardhan Park.

“The auditorium parking is not being used and should be made open to the public on the days when there is no event at the auditorium,” he said.