A 5.25-km stretch of the new promenade along the Mumbai Coastal Road will be opened to the public, free of cost, from 4.30 pm on August 15, marking the country’s 79th Independence Day. The stretch was inaugurated on Thursday, via video link from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) headquarters, in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.

Chief Minister Fadnavis also announced that the Coastal Road itself will now remain open to citizens 24 hours a day, starting from midnight on August 15, instead of the current 7 am to midnight schedule. “The Coastal Road is a huge benefit from a traffic point of view. It includes walking tracks and cycling tracks, which are an attractive amenity for pedestrians,” Fadnavis said on Thursday. 

He cautioned against speeding on the Coastal Road, which will now remain open during the night hours as well. He added, “Drivers should follow the traffic rules; the entire stretch is under CCTV surveillance.” The promenade, developed by the BMC as part of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project, spans 7.5 km in total. The section opening now runs between Priyadarshini Park to Haji Ali and Love Grove to Worli, which is a total of 5.25km in length, with walking spaces ranging from 8 to 20 metres wide and a sea-facing parapet. The remaining stretch will open in the future.