Who Owns Bandra Bandstand? A Small Squabble Over Dog Walking Unmasked The Battle For The Legality Of Mumbai's Most Iconic Public Promenade

Mumbai: On any given evening, the 1.1-kilometer-long Bandra Bandstand promenade plays host to the quintessential Mumbai dream. But over the last few weeks, this picture-perfect postcard of Mumbai’s elite coastal life has been tampered with minor scuffles. What began as a localised squabble over dog walking and animal feeding has erupted into a high-stakes turf war about – Who actually owns Bandra Bandstand?

Hoardings Threatened Fines

The undercurrent of tension broke to the surface in March when a series of official-looking hoardings cropped up across the Bandstand promenade. Citing the ‘Cleanliness & Sanitation Bye Laws for BMC 2025’, these signs threatened citizens with a Rs 500 fine for feeding stray animals and birds, and a Rs 1,000 fine for defecation by pets. The banners proudly flashed the official insignias of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Swachh Bharat Mission, bearing the apparent signing authority of the H/West Ward’s solid waste management department.

While the banners might have seemed to be a heavy-handed state mandate to regular visitors, animal welfare activist and founder-director of Humanity World Foundation, Shiraz Ahmed, wrote to the civic body to check on the legality of the banners. The letter led to a swift and telling reaction from the BMC, which rushed to the promenade on March 16 and yanked down five controversial signs, disavowing any role in the hoardings.

Activists Protest 'No Pets' Rules

However, pet owners complained that the security guards and the representatives of the local residents’ association – Bandra Bandstand Residents’ Trust (BBRT) – who claim to be legally maintaining the promenade, continued harassing them for walking their pets on the seaface. To mark their protest, animal welfare activists organised a symbolic reclamation of the promenade by organising a huge gathering along with their pet animals and also defaced the ‘No Pets’ signages put up by the trust across the promenade.

Even after these measures, the BBRT stood by their rules of not allowing pets to be brought to the promenade. In a response to the Free Press Journal, the Trust had said that it has thoughtfully prevented feeding and bringing of pets because the pet waste and the leftover food is not cleaned by the owners. Its secretary Rusi Jabulee refuted the “anti-animal” allegations, claiming that many of the BBRT trustees and members are pet owners.

Self-Appointed Custodians Accused

While the BBRT claims to be managing the Bandra Bandstand promenade for over 20 years, Ahmed alleged that BBRT has operated as the self-appointed custodian of the promenade. In multiple videos posted on his Instagram account, Ahmed has highlighted regular scuffles breaking out with BBRT members over bringing his pet and discouraging slum children from accessing the open promenade.

While the Trust claims total authority over the 1.1-km stretch, documentation from the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), under whose jurisdiction the land falls, paints a completely different picture. According to MMB, the BBRT was provided a No Objection Certificate from MMB for conservation and restoration of the “sea front on BJ Road, Bandstand, Bandra (West)” in October 2002. It highlighted that the Trust had again expressed interest to form a contract in October 2022 but no decision was finalised on it.

Corporate Logo Appears on Signage

Adding fuel to the fire, visitors recently noticed that the information board above the garden plot was quietly altered by the Trust. The new signage prominently involves a major private pharmaceutical company, USV Pvt Ltd., raising questions among activists about corporate commercialisation and the legality of third-party tie-ups on public land without MMB’s explicit nod.

While an MMB official said that they were not aware about any partnership with USV Pvt. Ltd., the Free Press Journal’s email to the pharmaceutical company went unanswered. The residents’ trust also expressed inability to provide their statement until the report’s publication.

Ahmed said, “Bandra Bandstand is one of the last remaining open spaces in the city where people from the farthest corners come to spend some peaceful time. If people are not restricted, why are animals banned from entering? The public places belong to these creatures equally. Even the children from lower income households have the equal right to visit and spend time on Bandstand, for how much time they wish.”

The battle to reclaim Bandstand is no longer just about dog walkers or stray feeders, it has outgrown to be a fight to claim who owns the land – the residents’ association, the pharmaceutical company or every Mumbaikars, two-legged or four?

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