Mumbai will soon have 29 gardens under flyovers following Matunga's success

The Elphinstone Road flyover could soon be home to a park instead of a parking lot. Pic/Bipin Kokate

Lush, green parks could soon replace the dusty parking lots under many of Mumbai's flyovers. In a city starved for open spaces, the BMC plans to open up 12 acres of green pockets by developing gardens under bridges. Following the success of the garden under Matunga's Tulpule flyover, the civic body has identified 29 more locations for the initiative.

This paper had earlier reported on how happy Matunga residents were to get the Nanalal D Mehta garden under Tulpule flyover. The underbelly of the bridge used to be an eyesore earlier, but now features a 600-metre garden and jogging track.

The Kalanagar flyover has the most space available - around 8,000 square metres - all of which will be turned into a garden. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

Following praise for the initiative, the BMC now intends to similarly develop the space under 29 other flyovers across the city. This will go a long way towards boosting the per capita open space in Mumbai: currently just 1.28 square metres per person. The standard requirement is about 4 sqm per person. But by creating gardens under the 29 bridges alone, the civic body could free up as much as 12 acres - half the size of the Oval Maidan, one of the most iconic grounds in the city.

A senior civic official from the Garden Department said, "We proposed the plan last year after we got appreciation for the beautification below Matunga flyover. The gardens will have ornamental shrubs, flower beds, seating, lights, open gyms, walking tracks and decorative lights. In some places, we have planned vertical gardens due to the space crunch. The idea is to give citizens more open space in the available places."

There are concerns of leakages and flooding at the Hindmata flyover, which witnesses yearly waterlogging. Pic/Bipin Kokate

No green signal from MSRDC
The BMC has made a provision of Rs 5 crore in the 2018-19 budget, but the project has already run into its first roadblock. The biggest chunk of open space - 8,000 sqm - is available below the Kalanagar flyover, followed by 7,920 sqm under the Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli East. However, both bridges are under the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which denied permission for the project. The agency raised concerns that the gardens would leave them no room to carry out maintenance work on the flyovers.

"After recent meetings with higher officials, they have agreed to give the nod. We are hopeful to get permission this time. We will appoint an agency for the maintenance of these open spaces," said another official from the Garden department.

Other roadblocks ahead
There are other challenges ahead as well. Nikhil Desai, Matunga resident and member of the F-North Citizens Association, praised the civic body's efforts to create open spaces but hoped there would be better planning this time around. "The space below Matunga flyover is a good example of how spaces can be used well, but it should have been planned better. During monsoon, there is continuous leakage over the jogging tracks. This problem is not big and can be resolved easily, but the BMC does not taking it seriously, despite several complaints."

Leakages and flooding is bound to be worse under the Hindmata flyover, which witnesses heavy waterlogging every monsoon. "During heavy rains, Hindmata is flooded with as much as two to three-foot-deep water. It will be a big challenge for the civic body, as the flooding issue is yet to be resolved," said Desai. He also pointed out that the project might meet with some resistance from citizens who park their vehicles under flyovers.

Officialspeak
Jeetendra Pardeshi, Superintendent of the Garden department, said, "We are trying to speed up the project. Once we have estimates for the work, we will float the tenders. We are hopeful of getting permission from MSRDC for their flyovers too."

Experts sceptical
"Wherever there are chronic traffic jams, we should use the space under flyovers for vehicular passage. This space should be utilised for multiple purposes, and not just for gardens," said A V Shenoy, member of Mumbai Vikas Samiti, a forum of transport experts.

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