After three months of seesaw, the responsibility of maintaining the iconic Carter Road Promenade has fallen on the lap of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The iconic 1.2 km long seafront in Bandra (west) was being voluntarily maintained by the local Bandra West Residents Association (BWRA). BWRA had a maintenance agreement with the Mumbai Maritime Board (MMB) that owns the land. The contract was renewed every five years since 1998. The last agreement expired on June 30, following which the association had decided not to renew it. Due to the difference of opinion between BMC and MMB, the responsibility of maintaining the promenade was left hanging.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Guardian Ministers Aaditya Thackeray and Aslam Shaikh chaired a meeting with the officials of BMC and MMB. It was decided that the garden cell of the civic body would be taking up the maintenance of the promenade.
It was also decided that the civic body would collect the revenue generated from the promenade. After covering the maintenance cost, the surplus amount would be shared equally between MMB and BMC.
"We welcome this decision. We all wanted BMC to maintain the promenade, as it has the required expertise. The promenade is one of the iconic locations of the city and has a daily footfall of 1,000 people," local Congress Corporator Asif Zakaria told the Free Press Journal.
Zakaria has been at the forefront in raising the matter with public representatives. He has continuously followed up on the developments with both BMC and MMB. "BMC has all the expertise and resources of maintaining the promenade and we expect it to maintain the area like how we have done it in the last two decades," said Patricia Nath, president BWRA.
