The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to develop a park dedicated to and themed on India’s constitution architect Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar. The theme park will come up on an open plot of land near Mahim railway station.
MMRDA seeking assistance
Initial information indicates that the park will come up utilising funds from the Babasaheb Ambedkar Social Development Scheme. MMRDA is seeking a private agency’s assistance for the plan and the consultant will be asked to prepare a detailed design with drawings of how the facility would look like, following which bids would be floated.
Various elements of Dr Ambedkar’s life
The idea is to have various elements of Dr Ambedkar’s life, including the Indian Constitution. It is likely to have a library, research centre, reading area and photographs from the past.
However, it is unclear if the park will be razed once the ground work on the ambitious Dharavi Redevelopment Project is initiated. If inaccessible during the seven years of the slum pocket’s revamp, crore of rupees spent on the latest addition will probably go down the drain.
Environmentalist moves High Court
An environmentalist has already moved the Bombay High Court to get a clarity over Maharashtra Nature Park and its inclusion in Dharavi redevelopment. Initially, the plans were to include the crucial biodiversity park in the revamp. However, it is only after awarding the contract to Adani Properties did the Maharashtra government clarify the exclusion.
Developed in 1997, Maharashtra Nature Park, earlier a garbage dumping area, is rich in biodiversity. It is a manmade forest with mangroves as a buffer near the Mithi river. It has a thick wooded forest housing various species of flora and fauna with nature trails offered to citizens.
