Mumbai Central Park proposal: Keep it green, keep it clean

The Eknath Shinde cabinet has given the green light to develop a New Yorklike central park at Mumbairsquos Mahalaxmi Racecourse The government stuck to its old line of the garden being open to all The theme will be green claims the governmentIt is understood that assenting to the BMCGovt proposal allowed the lease of the race course to be extended on the condition that the Royal Western India Turf Club RWITC hands over 120 acres of the 211acre racecourse to the BMCThe race course may look like New Yorkrsquos Central Park or Londonrsquos Hyde Park PicShadab KhanDifferent park designs are being touted as the race course may look like New Yorks Central Park or Londons Hyde ParkAlso Read We can construct a public garden Poonawalla family at Royal Western India Turf Club Open HouseWhile the government is still crying itself hoarse or in this case it should be horse that the theme park green park doubts and question marks persist over the true intention With the Cabinet giving the green light experts urban planners and architects weigh in as worries increase about SoBo emeraldrsquos green sheen being dimmed foreverNitin Killawalla architect and Rahul Kadri urban plannerNitin Killawala a wellknown architect said ldquoI am not going into approvals or opposition and which political party says what What is important is that there should be good professionals on board with the BMCgovernment for this park project Some parks in the city have the stamp of the local corporatorMLA but at times they tend to look unaesthetic We want a very classy look to this project Cross Maidan is a good example of real open spaces redone but being left open in a way for enjoyment and recreation There are hundreds of talented professionals in the city who will be able to understand and work on the ethos I understand that there is a plan for the Coastal Rd park to connect to this garden Leave beautiful old trees alone and work on the premise that what minimal needs to be done may be done but let it retain its aestheticismrdquoPlay wayPlay lsquonrsquo park is the Kadri credo Rahul Kadri Mumbairsquos architect and urban planner said ldquoWhat Mumbaikars need basically is for children to play in maidans These maidans have to be accessibleflexible to allow for different types of activity something like the Oval Maidan for instancerdquo Kadri explained ldquoFor most of the time the race course space as it exists does offer this kind of accessibility you want to find a way to make it more open more accessible that is fine The minute you say theme park the maintenance etc goes up I even read somewhere that there were statements like making a garden like Versailles France We do not need anything of this sort Simplicity is keyrdquo he signed offClear doubtsldquoWhen there is little to no transparency doubts simmerrdquo said Samarth Das architect and urban designer ldquoI think working with authorities is the only way forward They are ultimately responsible for giving the city free open democratic spacesrdquo added Das Like for most the lsquotheme parkrsquo is what concerns Das because ldquoOnce you say theme park that comes with peripheral activity that goes with a theme parkrdquo he explained ldquoWe need to have these spaces as free and open Mumbai lost out on at least 600 acres of mill land to convert them into free and open spaces The BMC is the caretaker of the city They cannot simply tell people to close their eyes and accept whatever is said The collaboration and public participation should be meaningful and robust and that the racecourse space must remain free and open foreverrdquo he added211acreTotal race course land120acreTotal land handed over to BMC