CSMT junction revamp got heritage panel nod after colour changes

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety has started work to redesign junction outside

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety has started work to redesign junction outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), to make it pedestrian-friendly on the lines of Times Square in New York City, but not everyone is keen on the transformation. The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) that looks after heritage sites in the city, had initially red-flagged the plan.

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The MHCC had expressed apprehensions over the selection of the heritage site at CSMT for the redesign, citing that a non-heritage site should be taken instead.

The BMC has taken up this initiative along with the Mumbai Traffic Police and NACTO- Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI) under the Bloomberg Initiative for Global Road Safety.

The Bloomberg initiative, ‘Reclaiming Streets for Mumbai with the Global Street Design Guide’ will set guidelines for Indian cities to adopt, while addressing the challenges of rapid urbanisation. As per the plan, pedestrian crossings are being shortened, dedicated parking spots established, benches, planters, and pavers used to make sidewalks more accessible and attractive for pedestrians. Also, the sideways and crossings for pedestrians have been painted yellow, to help streamline traffic movement.

The minutes of meetings reads: “The Committee opined that the colour scheme proposed for differentiation of vehicular and pedestrian areas (blue, yellow and orange), would visually detract from the architecture of Grade I sites.” Later, a revised proposal was submitted with an alternative colour scheme.

MHCC preferred an earthy mustard combination that would not distract from the heritage ambience. The MHCC further observed, “Considering the temporary/experimental nature of the proposal and in the larger public interest, the Committee decided to grant its NOC for the said interim proposal purely from a heritage point of view temporarily, for not more than two months.”

Meanwhile, Abhimanyu Prakash, senior program manager, NACTO-GDCI, said, “We had given a revised proposal after looking to address the concerns of the MHCC. We explained to the committee that this was important from the safety point for pedestrians, and is done globally, even at heritage sites. The location selection was significant, considering the volume of pedestrians at CSMT junction.”