Don’t Use Girgaum Chowpatty Volleyball Ground For Orange Gate Tunnel Substation, Maharashtra Minister Urges Mumbai Authorities

Maharashtra minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha on Tuesday urged district authorities in Mumbai to reconsider a plan to construct an electrical substation on a volleyball ground at the Girgaum Chowpatty for the Orange Gate-Marine Drive underground road tunnel project.

Lodha, the MLA from the Malabar Hill constituency, met Mumbai City additional collector Bappasaheb Thorat and resident officer Shivanand Langdapure and urged the district administration to keep the playground at Mafatlal Gymkhana for public use, The Times of India reported. 

The MLA told them that there are at least two alternative sites where the substation could be built. One of them is a railway plot across the street from the ground, while the other is a site at the Girgaum Chowpatty where work for an underground substation had earlier started.

The meeting came in the context of citizens increasingly expressing concerns about Mumbai’s open spaces being lost to infrastructure projects.

The proposal for setting up the substation on the volleyball ground had been made by a high-powered committee. However, Lodha reportedly said that nearly all members of the panel have now agreed to consider the alternative locations.

“Volleyball is a sport played by ordinary citizens,” Lodha was quoted as saying by The Times of India. “Every day, between 300 and 500 people play here from 6am onwards. Since alternatives are available, our request is that this ground be preserved for public use.”

About Orange Gate-Marine Drive Tunnel

The underground tunnel between Orange Gate and Marine Drive is a key infrastructure project that is expected to help reduce traffic in south Mumbai. The Rs 8,056-crore project will have twin tunnels of over 7 kilometres that will link the Eastern Freeway directly with the Coastal Road.

Once complete, the project is expected to reduce travel time from Orange Gate at P D’Mello Road to Marine Drive from 30 minutes to 5 minutes.