BMC proposes, planning agency disposes Juhu beachwalk project

In a move that could further strain relations between the municipal body and the city’s planning agency, the latter said it has no plans of funding the 1-km long beachwalk at Juhu.

In a move that could further strain relations between the municipal body and the city’s planning agency, the latter said it has no plans of funding the 1-km long beachwalk at Juhu.

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“The issue of constructing a beachwalk was raised by MLA Ashok Jadhav, but we have no plans of funding the project,” said Ashwini Bhide, joint metropolitan commissioner.

The proposal involves constructing a 1-km long beachwalk, from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology near Juhu-Versova Link Road up to the north-end of the beach near Ruia Park. Jadhav had written to the corporation asking it to build the beachwalk.

The corporation, in turn, asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to fund the project.

But the agency has refused, saying it will not fund city-level infrastructure projects.

“The BMC is the right and competent authority that can take up the project,” Bhide said.

The two bodies, which are responsible for the development of the city’s infrastructure, have been at loggerheads for years over the status of infrastructure projects and monsoon preparedeness of the city.