Marine Drive is over 100 years old. The Coastal Road Project, which is being built along its promenade, is going to stay with us for another 100 years. And, if you are living with an infrastructure so old, you might as well build it well so people can celebrate it every day,” says Alan Abraham. The Bandra-based architect has a suggestion for the BMC’s vision behind the Rs 12,000 crore mega infrastructure proposal-realign the ramps to the Coastal Road tunnels. Moving them from the sides-where they brazenly obstruct sea view and cut off access to the footpath-to the centre, offers an easy solution to multiple problems, Abraham argues.

Engineering equipment at the Parsi Gate site on Marine Drive. The Parsi community alleges the BMC kept it in the dark about moving the iconic gate’s location and approached them for approval six years after the planning phase, in June last year, when eight machines were already in place near Mafatlal Bath Club. Pic/Atul Kamble