Revenue sharing talks stall pay-n-park scheme on Flank Rd cycle track

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plan to introduce a pay-n-park scheme on the cycle track opposite the Shanmukhananda Hall along Flank Road has hit a bureaucratic hurdle over revenue sharing. The BMC’s hydraulic engineering (HE) department, which owns the land, has requested detailed projections on the expected earnings from this section of the cycle track in their letter to F North ward on March 4.

The initiative for pay-n-park on Flank Road had come after requests from resident groups in Sion, who were increasingly frustrated by the huge traffic congestion outside the popular Shanmukhananda Hall in Sion East, which accommodates around 2,700 visitors. The assistant engineer (maintenance) for the F North Ward had submitted a letter to _____ dated February 13 regarding the potential implementation of a pay-n-park scheme on a section of the cycle track opposite the Shanmukhananda Hall, located on Flank Road. The cycle track, built above the Tansa pipeline on Flank Road during the COVID-19 pandemic, was Aaditya Thackeray’s dream project but was allegedly being misused for drugs, alcohol, gambling and solicitation. This cycling track runs from Flank Road right up to Mankhurd.

In the March 4 letter, the assistant engineer (HE) highlighted the importance of assessing the potential revenue benefits to the assistant engineer (maintenance) department once the pay-n-park scheme was implemented.

The HE department had told the F North ward, “Once the necessary remarks and revenue analysis are received, the proposal will be processed following the appropriate procedures for implementation.”

The revenue generated from the pay-n-park scheme would be deposited in the BMC budget as the scheme is being implemented by BMC, as per the F North ward’s response on March 11 to the HE department.

When contacted, Nitin Shukla, assistant commissioner of F North ward, said, “We will be communicating to the HE department next week. It is BMC land, and the question of revenue doesn’t arise as it will go towards BMC budget.”

Payal Shah, a member of the HB Marg Forum and the JY Marg Forum urged the HE to accelerate the process. “It has been requested for the last two years, and the cycle track, now lying defunct, is being misused by anti-social elements.”