Navi Mumbai civic body to revamp Sagar Vihar in Vashi as proper tourist spot

In an effort to make Sagar Vihar along the Vashi creek a proper tourist spot, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has undertaken a major revamp of the area; NMMC has allocated a budget of ₹1.50Cr to revamp the area so that it can pull crowd like earlier

In an effort to make Sagar Vihar along the Vashi creek a proper tourist spot, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has undertaken a major revamp of the area.

Sagar Vihar in Vashi will be given a new, improved look by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation and made into a proper tourist spot. (BACHCHAN KUMAR/HT PHOTO)

Once a happening place of the satellite city, this area has been lying neglected for the past two-and-a-half decades. The NMMC has now allocated a budget of ₹1.50Cr to revamp it so that the area can pull the crowd like earlier.

Arvind Shinde, executive engineer of NMMC said, “The land of that area earlier belonged to CIDCO and hence we were unable to do anything there. Recently, CIDCO transferred the land to us, and accordingly, we planned to give it a facelift. Apart from the main entrance, we will develop stamped concrete pathways (in an area of 1,500sqm) so that the local residents come and walk there. We will barricade the entire area and then plant bamboo trees as partitions. The space between every two partitions will be turned into landscaping areas.

“We are also planning to develop two pergolas where the residents can come and sit in their leisure time. Those will be developed in such a way that the entire area can also be used as an amphitheatre, and different programmes can be held there,” he said.

Divya Vaibhav Gaikwad, the local corporator of the area, said that there will also be a sculpture near the main entrance that will show a child right from its birth till old age. For the entertainment of the children, there will also be a fountain.

Gaikwad said, “In the 1980s and the early 1990s, a private company used to operate a hovercraft at Sagar Vihar and people used to enjoy the rides. That area was well maintained then. When NMMC came into existence in the early 1990s, CIDCO stopped paying attention there and the company also stopped the rides citing poor responses. Despite having resources, NMMC was unable to develop it as CIDCO was the owner of the land. We had been following it up for several years, and two CIDCO MDs and five NMMC commissioners changed during that time. Finally, CIDCO agreed to transfer the land to NMMC.

“Once NMMC develops the area, we will approach the authorities concerned and request them to restart water taxis. CIDCO has recently developed a jetty in Belapur for running water taxis between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai. So, we will try to do something similar in Vashi also in the second phase.”