Mumbai:
Coastline between Worli and Mahim will be expanded with tonnes of sand; BMC promises our beaches will be in the same league as Goa's.
On the face of it, the aspirations the civic authorities have for the beaches of the city are bold, but to put it in the words the municipal official used, "Mumbai will soon give tough competition to the beaches of Goa."
The BMC's plan to revitalise the shores between Mahim and Worli will see the light of day in June, says Chairperson of the Standing Committee, Rahul Shewale.
Verbalising the civic body's plan, after expressing concern about the shrinking beaches, Shewale said, "Our plan is to extend the beach line from the current three metres to 50 m.
We have already started the work, the overall budget for the project is Rs 14 crore. Our beaches should be ready in the coming few months and it will be of the same stature as that of the Goan beaches," he said.
Mayor Shraddha Jadhav said it upset her to see the coastline now touches the walls of the very house she lives in at Shivaji Nagar, Dadar, and got a little nostalgic about the days when people could walk it from beach to beach.
"I want the coasts to be modified so people can walk over them. Currently, stones have been deposited to keep the water off the bungalow's walls. Being pointy and sharp, they have turned the beach into a danger zone. I remember people used to walk from Mahim to Prabhadevi. But there's hardly any space left for anyone to walk now," Jadhav said.
The BMC is planning to use 1.75 lakh cubic metres of sand to expand the beach.
State government's Harbour Engineer P P Darade, who is working on the project, said, "There would be more sand on the beach, so the common man can use the beach area."
Before you doubt the plan, consider the groundwork Corporation officials have in mind. They are going to tie up with associations that tend to the beaches in Goa and learn how to keep the beaches shiny, sandy and safe.
Apart from this, there would be food courts, patches of green amid patches of sandy brown, benches for people to catch a breather on, and other amenities.
The BMC is also planning to instate more lifeguards at the beaches.
"We would seek help from the association which looks after Goan beaches and supervises the lifeguards there. As per their suggestions, we would incorporate them within our city."
Currently there are 23 lifeguards with three instructors that man the city's beaches.
The environmentalists have a different view. It is a waste of money, is what environmentalist Rishi Aggarwal thinks.
"The sewage water is released in the sea. The Mithi river waste is released in the sea. Will people get in the water just because it's being modernised on the lines of Goa. People won't put their feet inside the dirty sewage water. The government should first think of cleaning the sea water. If they increase the beach size here, it would make water currents stronger somewhere else, reducing the beach size there," Aggarwal said.
The project cost for beautifying the Dadar beach was Rs 5 crore. When the BMC took up the embellishment of the shoreline from Worli to Mahim, the cost shot up to Rs 14 crore.
Other than that, the body is also working on Chimbai Beach waterfront project, which involves making a beach as well as a walkway in the area, at a cost of Rs 2 crore.
To preserve the devolving beaches, the body will employ something called geotextile bags. These are sacks filled with sand. They would be set up linearly along the shore, leaving some place for sand to accumulate in the desired shoreline. A hedge of these bags would work as an embankment.
Harbour engineers have already undertaken similar works in Raigad and Thane. Darade added, "The sandbags would erect a tube-like formation along the shoreline, which would obstruct the water from entering the area of the new, extended, beach. We would fill in sand in that portion."
Rs 14 crore is the estimated cost of the beach project, while is length is going to be 50 metres. 1.75 lakh cubic mtrs is the amount of sand the BMC is planning to use to expand the beach.