Project 8: The Waterfronts : Nov 27th 2007
Lost our waterfronts, and how to find them
O N A stretch of grimy sand in north-west Mumbai, pipes are belching waste into the fetid sea. At Gorai creek on the city’s northern fringe, a mountain of garbage, a quarter of a century old, rots by the sea. The first is home to the Bandra Effluent Pumping Station; the second the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) 1.7 million-ton Gorai Dumpyard. Sydney has its Darling Harbour and London its galleries, restaurants and acres of green on the banks of the Thames but Mumbai – the city by the Arabian Sea, defined as much by its global aspirations as its coastline – takes its waste to its waterfront. It abuses its most valuable natural as- set, the 62-km coastline that runs from Colaba to Versova on the west, and to Wadala on the east.
Mumbai has neither the great maidans of Kolkata nor the public parks of Delhi. But it is blessed with a 62-km-long coastline. The Mumbaiite can access under a fifth of this. A vision for the city’s edge could provide badly needed public space, and spin revenues for the government. Is this enough?
The BMC has just cleared a proposal to recreate a 1.5-km stretch of Dadar-Prabhadevi Chowpatty’s shoreline, increasing the beach’s width from 5 metres to 50 metres. Work is expect- ed to begin in February 2008. The stretch will be equipped with a food court and two promenades, and existing gardens will be redeveloped. But there are coastlines further north in Versova, and all along on the east, for which there is still no plan. The Marine Drive makeover A grand, two-phase Rs 130 crore plan to refurbish Marine Drive was launched by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority in 2005. Plans in the second phase include walkways and sea walls, public parks, an amphitheatre, and restoration of the Art Deco buildings that line Queen’s Necklace. The project has faced hurdles from the heritage committee, a high-court appointed committee, political parties and residents’ groups, who have questioned some plans in the second phase. Ratan Batliboi, whose firm has designed and is implementing the makeover, said the project will be over by 2009, if all clearances are in place, and work can progress, as planned.
The city’s waterfronts Some stretches along the western coastline are being beautified, though none will compare to water- fronts in cities like London or Sydney. Our east coast is largely inaccessible
JUHU TO VERSOVA The 4-km stretch of Juhu beach was cleaned up and food stalls relocated. The court-approved beautification plan had land- scaped gardens and lawns, and work is underway. It will be ready by mid-2008. Versova’s beach is the Sagar Kutir slum colony. Locals are trying to get authorities to relocate slums, and create a public space. BANDRA The two promenades Mumbai can be proud of are in Bandra, at Bandstand and Carter Road. Residents’ groups, with the help of parliamentary and corporate funds, created and help maintain the two promenades. The Carter Road promenade also hosts public events and festivals. DADAR The BMC has sanctioned a plan to restore a 1.5-km stretch of the coastline. This includes increasing the width of the beach from 5 metres to 50 metres. WORLI SEAFACE Its 1.5 km waterfront is as popular as Marine Drive. The seaface does not have encroach- ments and is well-paved, but there are no beautification plans. Local groups fear it will be affected by traffic once the Bandra-Worli sealink gets operational. HAJI ALI Trustees of the dargah have drawn up a conservation plan, but there’s nothing on the cards for the sea-facing stretch between Worli and Haji Ali. SOUTH MUMBAI WATERFRONTS The Girgaum Chowpatty was Mumbai’s first beach to be cleaned up, in 2001. Hawkers were relocated and a high court-appointed Beach Committee now monitors all proposed development along the stretch. A private firm runs a watersports complex from a leased stretch. The Marine Drive makeover started in 2005. A Rs 130-crore project with walkways and amphithe- atre, work is expected to be complete by 2009. The BMC has commissioned the creation of a 2-acre paved pedestrian plaza at the Gateway of India. The deadline for the 5-crore project is end-2008. “WE DO not have the great maidans of Delhi and Kolkata. The waterfronts are our only relief, but we treat them like the city’s backyard,” says P.K. Das, architect and founder of Mumbai Waterfronts Centre, which is in- volved in grassroots movements to reclaim public waterfronts in the city . Every morning and evening, crowds escape this megapolis bursting with 14 million peo- ple to flock to the signature Marine Drive, and Worli seaface. It’s not so bad there. Further north, others seek out the internationally fet- ed waterfront restoration project of the Ban- dra Bandstand, and the cleaned-up, revivified strip of sand that is Juhu beach. Together, these bits where land meets sea account for under a fifth of Mumbai’s waterfront. What about the rest? The remaining coastline is cordoned off by elite housing and office blocks, 300-year-old marooned fishing villages and slum colonies, 19th century navy and port facilities, empty sprawling warehouses and encroached Por- tuguese-era forts, factories manufacturing textile and fertilisers and merchants selling bamboo, a civic garbage dump and a sewage treatment plant. The city’s greatest physical asset is a showcase of exclusion, and of neglect. When architect Das took a plan to the BMC with par- liamentarian Shabana Azmi a decade ago for enhancing the Juhu waterfront, they discovered that a four-km stretch of beach had as many as five landlords, from the Mumbai Collector and the civic body to the department of environment and the Air- ports Authority of India. As with much of the city’s other plan- ning, myriad authorities are in charge of Mumbai’s shoreline, their tangle only en- suring collective disregard. Mumbai does not have to look too far for inspiration on how to engage its coastline. West Asian cities like Abu Dhabi have world-famous cornices – kilometres of beachfront open to the public to walk, read and play. Manoj Nair of the Dubai-based Property Weekly says that in West Asia, governments have taken the lead, organising competi- tions and selecting the best waterfront plans. “There is no single authority, but most of the concerned master developers are government-owned or have a sizeable stake held by it,” he says. “They are primarily good revenue earners. The intention is to draw the wealthy investors into self-contained commu- nities and to create a destination by itself, once all the features are in place.” In a parallel that might be more relevant to the city’s 1800-acre swathe of port land on the eastern side, London successfully regenerated its derelict dock lands, creating developments like the Canary Wharf, a buzzing business district housing offices of the new economy and close to , a lakh workers. Waterfronts across the world, according to the Wash- ington-based Waterfront Centre that hands out awards to the best waterfront projects of the world every year, are witnessing profound change today. Civic governments are reinventing them, keen to turn them into improved public spaces for citizens. Is Mumbai likely to follow suit? “I am afraid not,” says Sanjay Ubale, Secretary (Spe- cial Projects), and the man entrusted with an overarch- ing Mumbai Makeover brief. For the past three years, a committee anchored by Ubale had been looking at a comprehensive plan for the 21 km waterfront on Mumbai’s east – almost all of it owned by the Mumbai Port Trust. It has achieved little consensus, with the port arguing it needs all the land for its own activities. In August, the Planning Commission instructed the port to share 15 per cent of its land with the city for “de- velopment”. But Ubale says this may not necessarily translate into new waterfronts opening up to the public. Das, who is now working with the BMC to rejuvenate a km of beachfront at Dadar, says the current neglect of our waterfront could well be a thing of the past, with civic will spurred by public pressure. “The areas adjoining water- fronts must be marked off as pub- lic spaces, and a single Mumbai Waterfront Development Author- ity created with comprehensive charge.” The port, which owns over 20 km of the eastern water- front, Das says, “while keeping its land, should draw up a com- prehensive land management plan, and spin revenues from sea- facing offices, while opening up the coastline for the public.” There are also environmental laws to contend with. For exam- ple, the state will have to lobby with the Centre for relax- ation of the Coastal Regulatory Zone rules, which cur- rently bar development – this could even mean a toilet block to service users of a promenade – within 500 me- tres of the shoreline. chitrangada.choudhury@hindustantimes.com
THE STATE OF MUMBAI’S WATERFRONTS THE MUMBAI PROJECT SCHEDULE
1 The Eastern Freeways India’s longest sea bridge could trans- form our city. But corrections are need- ed if the Harbour Link is to change Mumbai as the Dong Hai did Shanghai
2 The Western Sea Links By 2009, a 7-minute cruise instead of today’s 40-minute crawl. India’s first sea bridge is an engi- neering marvel, but China’s built six such bridges in five years
3 The Mumbai Metro Local trains and BEST buses can’t cope with the new Mumbai. If we get cracking, the Metro can do to Mumbai what the Skytrain did to Bangkok
4 The New Taxis The first of the swanky taxis have reached Mumbai roads. The real revo- lution will come with the transformation of the decrepit Padminis
5 The Railway Transformation The first purple-and- silver, next-generation train is here. More are on their way. There are impressive plans, but Mumbai urgently needs them accelerated
6 The Water Alternative Ferries running down Mumbai’s coasts can make your life easier and cheaper. The plans are already in place. So why can’t we be like Sydney or Hong Kong?
7 The Road Transformation Mumbai’s roads can- not compare with Shanghai, or even Bangkok. But pothole- resistant concrete roads and flyovers are spreading. It’s never going to be enough
8 The Waterfronts Mumbai has 62 km of beaches, rocks, bays and estuaries. Only a fifth is open to the public. How we can create beautiful public spaces – and earn the city money
url: http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Default.aspx?selpg=1246
——————————————————————————–
Published on November 27 2007, Page 12
——————————————————————————–