MMRDA has fancy plans for Mithi riverbanks at BKC

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority plans to develop a recreational area including a helipad beside the polluted Mithi River in the Bandra-Kurla Complex. The proposal includes a restaurant, sports facilities, auditorium, parking and public garden. The development could generate a license revenue of INR50m ($738,000) per year for 30 years. However, environmental activists have raised concerns about the polluted river and building in the coastal regulatory zone, while some see the development as long overdue for a district that accommodates over 2.5 lakh workers and visitors daily.

STRAP: Dining areas, recreational activities and helipads on the anvil near polluted river

MMRDA has fancy plans for Mithi riverbanks at BKC

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has now planned a dining area, outdoor sports recreational activities and even a helipad along the Mithi River in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). With the riverside restaurants of London, Dubai and other international cities in mind as a model, the Authority seems to be oblivious to how polluted and foul-smelling the stagnant river is, say environmental activists.

Basic plans drawn up, MMRDA has now invited tenders from contractors. The proposed location is the stretch behind Dhirubhai Ambani International School, which has a road and plot-sharing boundary with the Mithi River in BKC. Sources said that over 1.05 lakh square metres of land will be developed into a recreational ground in the G-Block within three years.

“We have called tenders for designing, building, financing and operating this recreational ground with allied facilities along the Mithi river,” said MMRDA officials. “There is a possibility of having a helipad and banquet lawn as well. We have given time until July 17, until when we will wait for contractors to submit their ideas on how they want to develop it.”

As several areas along the banks of the Mithi have mangroves, part of the proposed plot falls under the coastal regulatory zone (CRZ). Approximately 68,000 square metres fall under non-CRZ land and thus have an additional built-up area of 12,500 square metres or so. As per the proposal, MMRDA could develop a garden and an arena for outdoor sports activities within the area that falls under CRZ. Sources said the garden might have river-facing gazebos as well as a seating area based on what is proposed by the contractors.

There are plans to develop helipads on the majority portion of the non-CRZ area. “BKC is a major business district with global MNCs and corporates having their offices here,” explained another MMRDA official. The proposed Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train will also terminate in BKC, which calls for world-class recreational facilities, including amenities like helipads.”

The recreational ground will also have a clubhouse, restaurant, indoor sports facilities, auditorium, swimming pool, basement parking and a public garden. MMRDA expects a revenue of ₹5 crore as license fee plus an increment of ₹25 lakh every five years from the contractor. The Authority is also working on other revenue models to exploit this recreational ground. The lease will be for a period of 30 years, which can be further extended by another 30 years.

Over the years the Bandra-Kurla Complex has turned into one of the busiest and most expensive financial business districts in the city with a footfall of over 2 lakh to 2.5 lakh working professionals, and another 2 lakh visitors every day. It houses leading private sector and government offices and will soon have a metro and bullet train station even as basic amenities remain deplorable—BEST buses are inadequate, and unruly auto rickshaw drivers plying from Bandra and Kurla railway stations make life difficult for commuters with their refusals to ply. Cycle tracks have been created and some e-bikes also ply but these are more or less ineffective.

“Building a recreation center at the BKC along the Mithi River is a good thing,” said architect Jagdeep Desai, who runs the ‘Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai Suburbs’. “The space will be for public use and thus will not be neglected. It will keep encroachments at bay. This should have ideally been planned decades ago when the Drive-In theatre was built.”

Desai said that public space needed to be reclaimed on the Dharavi side as well. “The Mithi is in such bad shape because it is stagnant,” he said. “Even if the authorities just open the sluice gates and allow the water to trickle, it would improve the condition of the river.”

Environmental activist Stalin D said that MMRDA authorities needed to ensure that all the development happened outside the buffer zone. “There cannot be permanent structures in the CRZ areas,” he said. “Also, the Mithi River is polluted with untreated sewage and is stinky, with mosquitoes in the mangroves, and needs to be cleaned.”