Alibag OG Pinakin and others band together to stop it from turning into another Mumbai

Mumbai: Twenty-five years ago, architect Pinakin Patel moved his home, workshop and studio to Alibag because of the “green life” the tiny coastal town in Raigad district offered. He says he had seen Juhu and Malabar Hill, the two places he has lived in the city “get ruined.”

Now Patel is spearheading a campaign to stall a similar fate for Alibag. “When I moved to Alibag in 2000 and people asked me why I would tell them that Alibag was going to become the Hamptons of Mumbai with luxury homes, private villas, and a sort of country living. Instead, it threatens to turn into Mumbai’s New Jersey” he says with a shudder.

Patel is referring to the infrastructure development that has made Alibag easily accessible for those in Mumbai – the RoRo facility, Atal Setu that connects Sewri to Nhava Seva, a new bridge from Nava to Rewas that is in the offing that will connect Mumbai to Alibag in 1 1/2 hours, the four-lane road that will connect Mandwa to Alibag and eventually Kashid which will scythe through thousands of trees.

Patel is also concerned about government rules that have allowed for high-rise residential towers, mini townships and five-star hotels. For instance, in 2024, Emaar India announced that it plans to foray into Alibag by constructing 84 villas spread across a 25-acre parcel, each priced at ₹9 crore to ₹15 crore. In addition, in December last year, Mumbai-based listed real estate firm Oberoi Realty acquired 81 acres of land at village Tekali to develop a luxury hotel and branded residence villas as part of the project. Lodha has also announced a 100-acre township right on the jetty for apartments, villas. Also, in the offing is a ten-storey hotel being developed by Ranjir Singh Bindra in Alibag.

Patel’s post on social media six days ago about rampant development has resonated with scores of other residents including Roshnee Desai, founder and creative director of branding studio Local who in turn found almost a hundred like-minded people reaching out to her to pledge support.

“We are not against development,” Patel underscores. His concern is that the development should not turn Alibag from a rural idyll to unplanned urban hellhole.

“It cannot go the Mumbai way,” he says. “Before densifying the population in Alibag, all we are saying is can we draw up a proper zonal plan? Create zones for culture, theatre, drama, music, art galleries, and keep Alibag as the green lungs.” Zoning, he says, will attract different communities. “Otherwise, if you just start dividing the land into blocks and selling it to builders, you will just have another Navi Mumbai or a slightly better version of it.”

Patel, Desai and other collaborators want to act as a pressure group or become part of a screening committee along with Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to create a zonal plan. Patel, one of India’s eminent designers, says the idea is to “work with MMRDA and the bureaucracy.”

Desai for her part has suggested creating a branding plan for Alibag - similar to God’s Own Country that catapulted Kerala into global spotlight. “Without branding, projects will invariably be disjointed with everyone designing on their own, some with trained designers, and yet others with contractors. The idea is to offer a coherent design ideology,” said Desai. It will all add up to a bigger idea of what Alibag is and retain some of the original ethos of the place, she adds.

Patel says, “Once we have our Alibag branding plan in place, we are going to approach different stakeholders like shopkeepers, farmers, Mumbaiites owning properties over here to know what is working for them in Alibag and what is not working. If Alibag was to go under massive redevelopment, as is being suggested, how would they want it.” A comprehensive report will then be presented to the MMRDA, she says.