Mumbai: The neglected Mahim beach, which has for long been nothing but a dumping ground, is all set to get a facelift soon. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Rs 2.52 crore revamp project will have a dedicated area for beach sports apart from children’s play area and an amphitheatre.
BMC had last year collaborated with the locals to form a beach monitoring committee to oversee the work, which the civic body is targeting to complete by April 2020. Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner, G (north) ward said, “The beach offers a beautiful panoramic view of the Bandra-Worli Sealink. It has so much to offer, however years of neglect have done lots of damage to the beach. We have many challenges before us to revamp the beach. Fencing the bamboo marts on the beach will restrict the spread of waste that originates from the adjoining establishments. Once we manage to restrict the trucks and water tankers, lot of space will be freed up too.”
The beach will be dotted with decorative stone seatings/benches and street lamps, said a junior engineer of G (North) ward. BMC is also planning a small garden inside. The engineer said, “We are emphasising on having dedicated areas for recreational purposes. We will have an area for beach sports and children’s play area. We will remove the dead soil and garbage from the stretch to lay fine sand all over. The stretch will have stone pathways and pitching.”
Dighavkar added, “We will also restore the heritage promenade. There is an old light tower, we will repair it and increase its height and turn it into a viewing deck. The damage done by the public during Ganesh Chaturthi, Mahim Fair etc will be undone too when we cover the beach with fine sand.
However, the beautification will be limited to an area of 4,000 sq metre on the beach, excluding Mahim Fort. Restoration of the historical Mahim Fort has not been included in the beautification plan due to the issue of responsibility of removing encroachments that have mushroomed inside the fort.
Meanwhile, locals say there is more to worry about. Indranil Sengupta and Rabia Tewari, residents of Mahim are those who initiated Mahim beach’s clean-up, said the cleaning of the beach should actually begin at the very source of the problem, Mithi River.
Sengupta said, “It is nice to see that finally BMC is convinced that this beach has a potential and needs an urgent attention. The scenario was totally different when we shifted to Mahim in July 2017. The view from our balcony is so beautiful, but when we looked on the ground, it was heartbreaking. After years of neglect, the beach became a dump yard. There was no sand and it was covered by garbage and plastic.”
Sengupta’s wife Rabia Tewari added, “We approached the BMC and asked them how can they help us. That is when we found out that for 3.5 km area from Reti Bunder to Prabhadevi, they had only 24 cleaners. We started to clean up the beach. Today, we have around 200 volunteers to help us.” with the cleanup.”
Sengupta and Tewari have appealed to the state government to install a filtration system to prevent garbage and sewage from entering the Mahim beach. They have also sought help to segregate plastic that is collected from the beach and sending it for recycling.
The Mahim beach revamp plan:
The revamp project will include areas starting from the St Michael’s Church to Mahim Reti Bunder at the Mahim Causeway. The corporation is looking at a minimalist design for beautification with a focus on environmental hazards in the area, encroachers and the problem erosion due to tides.
The part of the beach is currently used as bamboo and timber marts to dump their waste and store their raw materials will be fenced. The police housing wall running along the beach will be restored, coconut trees will be planted along the walls of the coastal police station on the beach. The civic body will remove all kinds of encroachment, including illegal parking of trucks and water tankers and. The detailed plan of the project also has toilet blocks to address the issue of open-defecation. The civic body also plans to beautify and restore and "ancient" jetty, however, the civic body has clarified that it has no plans so far to start boat rides.
Attractions:
Area for beach sports
Children's play area
Amphitheatre
Promenade
Jetty
Viewing deck
