The BMC has proposed to develop new gardens and recreation grounds, as well as a traditional crafts village, in the second phase of its open space development project
Mumbaikars will soon be able to breathe easier, with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) steadily working towards expanding open spaces in the city. In the second phase of open space development, the BMC will develop 33 gardens and recreation grounds (RG) in the next year and a half.
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The crafts village, ShilpGram, will be modelled on the lines of Dilli Haat (in pic). File pic
With the city suffering from a severe space crunch, the BMC’s garden department will develop over 1.5 lakh square metres in the new phase to provide more community spaces to citizens. In the phase II of the project, the BMC will spend around Rs 124 crore on the development of new gardens, as well as the maintenance and improvement of existing ones. The civic body has already finalised the details, and will begin work in the next few months.
The plots are situated in Chembur, Sion, Kurla, Andheri, Worli, Parel, Gorai, Matunga and Borivli. The biggest plot is at Andheri, with 50,000 sq m set to be transformed into the much-discussed ShilpGram, a handicrafts village much like the Capital’s Dilli Haat. The crafts village will exhibit handicrafts and handlooms from the state, as well as from other parts of the country.
Plots at Kurla, Chembur and Mankhurd, totalling 27,844 sq metres, will be developed as gardens. A majority of plots are in the F-north ward (Sion, Matunga), which will get nine new recreational spaces. The BMC has set a target of one-and-a-half years, to complete the project. Along with the 33 plots in phase II, the garden department is almost done with phase I, which included 37 plots.
In the last two years, BMC has developed more than 200 open spaces that were claimed from builders under TDR (Transfer Of Development Right). Most of these plots are already in the last stages of completion.