Cabinet nod for park in racecourse

120 acres of the racecourse (of the 211 acres leased to the Royal Western India Turf Club) will be developed along the lines of New York’s Central Park and London’s Hyde Park, while 200 acres of reclaimed land along the Coastal Road will be transformed into a garden

MUMBAI: The state cabinet on Monday cleared a proposal to build parks on a part of Mahalaxmi Racecourse and along the Coastal Road, making the two among the largest open spaces in the city.

On Monday, Chahal gave a presentation to the state cabinet after which the proposal was cleared. (HT ARCHIVES )

120 acres of the racecourse (of the 211 acres leased to the Royal Western India Turf Club) will be developed along the lines of New York’s Central Park and London’s Hyde Park, while 200 acres of reclaimed land along the Coastal Road will be transformed into a garden. The land parcels will be connected with an underground tunnel being built under the Coastal Road. Officials said no construction would be made on the racecourse land, except the theme park, which will be developed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

The plan to develop a land parcel at the racecourse has been in the works for many years. Earlier it was pushed by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during the BJP-Shiv Sena rule. Later chief minister Eknath Shinde took it up. The land is jointly owned by the state government and the civic body.

In the recent past, municipal commissioner I S Chahal had a series of meetings with the managing committee of RWITC, before the club agreed to give up a part of the land to be developed into a park on January 30, 2024.

On Monday, Chahal gave a presentation to the state cabinet after which the proposal was cleared. BMC will also spend ₹100 crore on rebuilding stables at the racecourse.

Chahal said, “This is the biggest gift of CM Eknath Shinde to Mumbai.”

Milind Deora-Aaditya Thackeray face off

On Monday, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora attacked Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on the latter’s stand on the racecourse land – Thackeray has consistently claimed that the land parcel will be handed over to a builder who is close to CM Shinde. In a video message Deora said that the lease of racecourse land had expired in 2013 and was not renewed. “Why did Aaditya not convert it into a park if he was so passionate about open spaces. Why was there a delay of 10 years?”

Aaditya responded saying out that after racecourse, the government will next set its sights on Willingdon Sports Club or CCI. “They may even add Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve to the open space calculation at some point,” he said.