Mumbai: Soon, admire Queen's Necklace from Malabar Hill

BMC has proposed a new viewing gallery for Marine Drive in place of its old control room at Malabar Hill, at a cost of Rs 4 crore

Soon, you will soon be able to view the Queen’s Necklace from Malabar Hill. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed a viewing gallery near Hanging Gardens, which will allow tourists to enjoy the view of the pristine promenade. A provision of Rs 4 crore has been made for the same in the BMC budget.

Last week, the civic body came out with its annual budget, pegged at Rs 37,500 crore. A 10 per cent hike from last year, the budget has a provision of up to Rs 500 crore for the gardens department, Rs 10 crore for keeping the heritage BMC headquarters at CST illuminated at all times, illumination at city beaches, restoration of heritage structures etc.

The gallery will be made after revamping an existing water works control room, currently lying dysfunctional. Pic/Onkar Devlekar

Among these, the BMC has proposed to create a viewing gallery at Malabar Hill, which will give them a view of the Queen’s Necklace from a vantage point. The gallery will be made after revamping an existing water works control room, currently lying dysfunctional. The control room will be situated on the ground floor, while a viewing gallery that can hold up to 50 people at a time will be situated on the first floor.

BMC says
“The land belongs to our department, which was given to a certain restaurant. The restaurant has closed down now and even our control room there is dysfunctional. We are therefore planning a viewing gallery for tourists there. It will cater to the large number of tourists who come to the hanging gardens. They can view the entire Queen’s Necklace from here,” said Ramesh Bambale, deputy municipal commissioner in-charge.

The water works control room had been operating from elsewhere for a few months now, since the one at Malabar Hill was in disrepair. The BMC now plans to revive this control room, after taking over the adjoining restaurant space. The gallery will have binoculars and will also be a good spot for photographers. However, it will have a fixed timing, probably similar to that of the garden. Whether a fee will be charged is still unclear.

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