MUMBAI: The Mumbai Architects Collective, in a letter sent to the BMC commissioner on Sept 24, which has been signed by 92 architects, planners, and designers, has said that there is a troubling trend of appropriating parks and open spaces for infrastructure projects, commercial use, and parking, which undermines their ecological, social, and public value.
“We are deeply concerned about the ongoing threats to other key public spaces such as the Hanging Gardens, the Racecourse, Aarey forest, the salt pans, and the unfulfilled promises of open spaces along the Coastal Road. We urge you to build on the solidarity we witnessed at Patwardhan Park and make a lasting commitment: that all open spaces in Mumbai remain open and accessible to the public in perpetuity, under public control. Safeguarding these spaces is vital for the city’s environmental, social, and economic future,” states the letter.
The open spaces along the Mumbai coastal road are yet to be developed and would be taken up once the road construction is complete.
Over the past weekend, the BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani joined residents who had gathered at Bandra’s Raosaheb Patwardhan Park to celebrate the BMC scrapping its plans for building an underground parking lot below the garden’s playground space.
Further in their letter, the collective said that they commend the recent efforts by the citizens in preserving Patwardhan Park in Bandra from being converted into a parking lot. “The solidarity displayed by citizens, political representatives, and the BMC in protecting this vital public resource is commendable, mirroring a similar victory at Pushpa Narsee Park in Juhu. These successes highlight the critical importance of safeguarding open spaces for public use,” they said.
In the case of Juhu’s Pushpa Narsee Park (PNP) also earlier last year, there were plans of constructing a parking lot below the open space which also got eventually scrapped owing to citizens’ resistance.
