Mumbai Port Authority’s (MbPA) land holdings are some of the best waterfront properties in Mumbai that are yet to be opened up for planned development, in an otherwise unplanned metropolis.
Development-wise, the eastern shores of Mumbai’s island city has largely remained ignored due to the traditional port, logistics, warehousing and ship-breaking related activities. Now, with a bulk of these trades moving to other geographies, the government wants to open up some of the land under the port authority.
Connectivity is far from what it should be to make the eastern shore accessible to the population. A start has been made to improve road and rail-based connectivity. It is beyond doubt that the land has an immense opportunity to be developed as a waterfront that will be holistic with recreation, tourism and commercial activities, which are presently lacking in Mumbai.
This is Mumbai’s last opportunity to avoid mindless development and go in for a planned and well-rounded space that welcomes people across socioeconomic strata of the society.
Master plan
The MbPA has a master plan in place to develop some of the port land. The main activities would comprise of:
1) To take into consideration that Mumbai’s population has grown tremendously and there are aspirations of the city to meet its need for lung space, marina, seafront walkways, promenades, water sports, plazas, floating restaurants, public transport such as roads, water, metro, rail, parking places, cycling tracks, entertainment hubs, heritage tourism places, theatres, convention centre, marine museum, etc.
2) To create the area as an international destination for recreation, tourism along with mixed land use with world-class smart infrastructure.
Night View- a memorable skyline with Botanical Gardens (Future Development) |
3) To unlock the commercial value of its land asset which is currently untapped.
4) Acceptable to the stakeholders, authorities and concerned agencies.
Back in 2016, Ahmedabad-based HCP Design, Planning & Management was finalised to plan and design the same. They have designed many national and international projects such as the Sabarmati Riverfront Development and Amochu Land Reclamation and Township in Bhutan. Along with HCP will be Buro Happold of the United Kingdom which has expertise in water and marine engineering.
Plan for the wealthy?
A new Mumbai International Cruise Terminal (MICT) is being developed. For the last few years, luxury cruises have been berthing here.
Mumbai Port Complex Development (Future Development) |
For over half a decade, urban planners have been raising questions and asking the government not to allow the eastern waterfront to go into the hands of the wealthy. Their argument point of contention is that the amenities should be accessible for all and not be a space only for moneybags.
Other than the cruise terminal, there are also plans to have Mumbai Marina at Princess Dock. Bid for which has already been floated. A Hi-Tech City is also in the plans, which will have commercial spaces and cafeterias along the coast.
Another big ticket plan that drew flak from the environmentalists was the discussion to reclaim 100 hectares of sea and use 45 hectares of the land to create a 145 hectares big park on the lines of London’s Hyde Park.
(Future Development) |
In the master plan, there is also a mention of having a Mumbai Eye. However, this project has taken a political turn with the government relocating it to Bandra Reclamation and later scouting for an alternate location after opposition from Bandra residents.
India’s longest ropeway too is part of the larger plans to make the heritage Elephanta Caves more accessible. The plan is to have an 8 km long ropeway between Sewri and Elephanta Islands. However, it is caught in the bureaucratic maze as the Archaeological Survey of India wants the ropeway infrastructure to be a kilometre away from the caves. The authorities insist the project has not been shelved, only taking slightly longer for the project to be implemented.
Never-ending wait
With over half a decade having passed by, the wait for the development of the Eastern Water Front continues. While officials state that the 2016 master plan is intact and no alterations have been made to it, when it will get kicked off is a big question that no one wants to respond to.
