Proposed Breach Candy parking lot could be used for govt or police vehicles

Breach Candy's underground parking plan halted due to resident protests; BMC exploring alternative uses for site amid traffic congestion concerns.

MUMBAI: The proposed underground parking facility at Breach Candy, whose construction was halted after residents protested, could be used to park government or police vehicles, or for public amenities.

Proposed Breach Candy parking lot could be used for govt or police vehicles

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had sent a letter to the contractor, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), ten days ago, directing it to halt work due to objections raised by the Breach Candy Residents’ Forum (BCRF).

A civic official told HT that a decision is yet to be taken on how the site can be used and that the BMC is exploring the possibility of using it to alternatively park government or police vehicles as the plot has already been excavated. “We had stopped work in October, and when we resumed in December, we received objections from BCRF. So, we gave the contractor a formal communication ten days ago,” said the civic official.

The BMC had originally planned a two-level parking facility, which could accommodate 246 cars, behind Tata Garden at Breach Candy. This parking facility, at the Amarsons junction, was one of four being developed along the under-construction Mumbai Coastal Road. Together, they would have provided parking space for more than 1,850 vehicles. Construction on the Breach Candy parking lot began last year, with excavation completed by October. It was halted after residents protested, stating that a parking lot at the Amarsons junction would worsen traffic congestion on Bhulabhai Desai Road.

The core committee of BCRF, in a letter to the BMC’s Coastal Road Department dated December 5, 2024, had cited increased traffic congestion at Mukesh Chowk, if the parking lot was built. “The car park’s entry and exit points on this narrowest part of Bhulabhai Desai Road will escalate existing congestion around both sides of the interchange. The width of the road, as you know, is very narrow and cannot be changed due to road-touching buildings,” the letter stated.

Further, BCRF said that cars approaching from north and on the Coastal Road would need to take a U-turn at Mukesh Chowk / St Stephen’s Church, to access the proposed car park, exacerbating escalating traffic congestion. It would also pose logistical challenges for residents, they said.

“A meeting with residents has proven that utilisation of the car park will be low because after parking here, residents will find it difficult to cross the road due to the lack of pedestrian crossings and daily accessibility issues, which will make it extremely impractical to use,” read the letter.

BCRF also said that individuals visiting the hospital nearby or shopping in the area would find it inconvenient to park this far away. “Many BMC car parks in South Bombay have become white elephants, often misused by contractors after a couple of years. We question the viability and usefulness of the car park in the long term. In lieu of these concerns, we respectfully request that you consider abandoning the underground car park proposal to preserve the quality of life in our already congested neighborhood, where no solutions are in sight and residents are facing great aggravation on a daily basis,” the letter stated.