Patwardhan Park parking lot will resolve traffic issues, say Khar-Bandra residents associations

Mumbai: While activists and residents seem to be divided over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plans to build an underground parking lot below Patwardhan Park in Bandra (W), resident associations in Khar-Bandra have come in support of the plan, saying it will ease traffic jams on Linking Road, where illegal parking is rampant

Mumbai: While activists and residents seem to be divided over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plans to build an underground parking lot below Patwardhan Park in Bandra (W), resident associations in Khar-Bandra have come in support of the plan, saying it will ease traffic jams on Linking Road, where illegal parking is rampant.

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A 93-year-old veteran activist and managing trustee of Khar Residents’ Association, Anandini Thakoor, said, “Activists need to understand where the parking lot is being built and should not object to every development. I spoke to the gardens department and they have also said only one tree will be chopped here. We have planted trees in the area for decades and are well aware about protecting them. There have been multiple meetings with the BMC in the past and on the basis of this the civic body has come up with the parking lot plan, which should be built.”

Advocate Trivankumar Karnani of Mumbai North Central District Forum said, “We welcome the BMC move. We have modern technology to ensure that the development is done by keeping sustainability in mind. In the long run, this parking lot will empower the locals and help in decongestion due to lack of parking space around Linking Road.”

“We are very much in favour of the parking lot. A lot of people shop from hawkers on Linking Road and park their car right on the road. This creates traffic jams. The parking lot will reduce jams in the area. But the BMC should ensure that it does not end up being another failed project,” Madhu Poplai, secretary of Pali Hill Residents’ Association, supporting the plan said.

Explaining about how the BMC selects the parking lot spaces, P Velarasu, additional commissioner (projects), BMC, said, “The proposals for parking lots are based on the parking demand and on request from local elected representatives.”

“The space is marked as Recreational Garden (RG) in the Development Plan (DP), hence nothing else can come up here and it will remain as a recreational ground once the underground parking lot is constructed below,” Velarasu said, adding that “in the past, the parking lot was planned below the main park, which was cancelled. Here, the tender is only for one small part of the adjoining barren land and not even the main garden.”

Daylyn Rodrigues, founder, Almeida Park Residents’ Association, also welcomed the move and said, “These facilities are very much welcome in the suburbs and it is the need of the hour. However, local issues also have to be kept in mind. The need for a parking lot in the area is such that people with multiple cars, for example, could also start using this parking lot permanently which should not happen.”

Meanwhile, a WhatsApp group formed by activists and locals called ‘Patwardhan Park-Not Parking’, which has nearly 100 members, is now filled with messages from both the parties, those in favour and those opposing the parking lot.

The members of the WhatsApp group have decided to meet at 5pm on Sunday to decide the future course of action.