BMC set to present CST beautification plan before Modi

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Railways will be making a presentation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urban development minister

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Railways will be making a presentation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu, on its plans of a revamp of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) building — one of the 10 iconic locations that the Centre picked — on Thursday and Friday in New Delhi.

MumbaiÖ 21 November 2010Ö NewsÖ Sudden rainfall at CST Station HT photo by Hemant Padalkar (HIndustan Times)

A detailed plan of the building’s beautification has been drawn up, which focuses on ways to attract more tourists and ease pedestrian movement in the next one year. This planwill be implemented in phases, where 50m and 100m areas around the building will also be taken up for beautification.

To make sure that the southern facade of the structure is not blocked, BMC has trimmed the trees that stood near the CST bus stop, and the civic body will also revamp the bus stops, as it disturbs the view of the structure, minus advertisements boards, as world heritage sites should not be marred by such commercialisation. A double-decker bus stop with a gallery of heritage pictures is likely to be put up near the existing bus stop. There BMC already had a meeting with BEST and other railway officials about it.

The civic body will also look for uniformity in the footpaths – similarly designed pavers are to be placed across the CST station area, the railings of the footpaths too will have identical designs. Even the foot overbridge on DN road will be revamped with a colour that suits the structure and a heritage canopy will be placed to give it an aesthetic look, said civic officials. BMC will be beautifying Bhatia Baug (garden) outside the station.

“A presentation on the one-year-long plan to beautify the iconic building and areas around it, will be presented in front of the central government representatives on Thursday and Friday. The plan will be implemented in phases and we have taken all the necessary measures to make the heritage structure look more attractive,” said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, A-ward.

HT had earlier reported about how citizens were likely to find the busiest railway station neat, hawker-free and even beautified. To keep the only railway station from the state that has made to the list of the top 10 iconic locations under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan clean, the area is to be cleaned thrice in a day. BMC also plans to beautify the station area with murals on the station walls. BMC plans to paint the General Post Office wall on St George Lane with all the iconic and tourist locations with its historic relevance.

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