‘Aesthetics of Mumbai’s footpaths can wait’

Before and After: Footpath beautification work is expected to be finished in 15 months

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's plan to make the city's footpaths aesthetically appealing might not be a reality anytime soon, as beautification work is currently limited only to replacing paver blocks with concrete cement layers, keeping the backside of bus stops transparent and replacing benches with more aesthetic ones. As per the original plan, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was looking at making the footpaths visually uniform in terms of signboard sizes and height of trees, but due to lack of cooperation from commercial establishments, work on the project is currently limited only to ground improvement and beautification.

In the next 15 months

During his first meeting with BMC officials on December 27, 2019, Thackeray had asked them to work on beautification of footpaths. He wanted to create a ‘Mumbai Model', which could be replicated throughout the state. He had also discussed having two different policies for heritage and non-heritage areas. However, currently work on the footpath beautification project, worth Rs 69 crore, is only limited to ground improvement. The work is likely to be completed in the next 15 months.

As per the project, the BMC will strengthen, improve and beautify five footpaths - at Lady Jahangir Marg from St Joseph Circle near Wadala station to Ruia College, Maharshi Dayanand Sarswati Marg from Diamond Garden to Chembur railway station, Sant Gyaneshwar Mandir Road and RKP Road - both at Bandra East and M G Road in Goregaon.

The footpaths will be improved on the lines of those around the National Gallery of Modern Art and Mumbai University in Fort. In July, the BMC had completed footpath standardisation work at Fort under the Fort Precinct Project.

As per CM's instructions

A senior official from the BMC said, "The project included standardisation of signboards of shops and establishments as well, but banks and big shops on the road did not cooperate. Fort is a heritage area and the signboards should be in accordance with the heritage look. In other parts of the city, the boards should be of uniform size."

"We changed the footpaths and roads as per the instructions given by the CM. There were discussions regarding uniformity of signboards but we didn't get any instructions on it. The footpath work is being undertaken by the road department," said a ward official.

The BMC's road and traffic department officials said the work would focus on improving the surface of footpaths. Superintendent of licence department, Sharad Bande remained unavailable for comment.

Rs 69cr
Cost of the footpath beautification project