Marine Drive set to lose biggest promenade title

Mumbai: Marine Drive will soon lose its status of the bigg-est promenade in the city as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to construct a much bigger promenade, almost double the size of Marine Drive, along the Worli seaface.

As part of its ambitious coastal road project, the BMC has decided to construct a promenade that will be spread from Priyadarshini Park, Haji Ali, to the Worli-Bandra Sea Link. It will be 20 metres (65 feet) wide and 6.4 kms long.

“The biggest promenade in the city presently is Marine Drive, which is 3.5 kms long. However, the promenade along the coastal road will be almost double of its length, making it the biggest promenade in the city,” said Mohan Machiwal, chief engineer, coastal road project.

For beautification purposes, local trees will be planted along the promenade. In addition to this, a seating arrangement will also be provided on the promenade, he added.

According to civic officials, a reclamation area of 96.87 lakh sq ft will be available for the coastal road project. Of this, 22 per cent area admeasuring 21.57 lakh sq ft will be used for the construction of coastal road, whereas the remaining 78 per cent area (75.34 sq ft) will be used for providing civic amenities. The promenade is part of these amenities. They also include three underground parking lots having a capacity of 1,625 vehicles, a butterfly garden, cycle track, amphi-theatre, gardens and playgrounds, washrooms etc.

The BMC has started works of the first phase of the coastal road project, which include 9.98 km of road from the Shamaldas Gandhi flyover (Princess Street flyover) to Worli-Bandra Sea Link. It will have a 3.45 km tunnel from the Princess Street flyover to the Priyada-rshini Park. The project also includes a 400-metre long and 45-metre wide bridge from Lotus to Samudri Mahal.

The bridge will also have pavements of 3.5-metres width on both the sides.