Shivaji Park next in line to be beautified

MUMBAI: Continuing with the barrage of beautification projects in the city, the BMC has now set its sights on Dadar’s iconic Shivaji Park. This news came after the visit of MP Rahul Shewale to the park on Tuesday morning, where he made a string of announcements vis-à-vis its makeover.

Prime among the announcements was the setting up of smog towers in the park to allay the dust pollution that the loose red soil dumped in the park was causing. In response to this, the BMC on Saturday said it was sprinkling approximately 2.9 lakh litres of water daily in the park from its 35 ring wells in a bid to increase greenery and reduce pollution. Misting machines were also being used while the BMC hinted at a permanent solution.

The civic officials announced that under this beautification, the park would be home to the tallest tricolour in the country to make the government’s Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations even grander. It also plans to renovate the Samarth Vyayam Mandir, where ‘malkhamb’ is taught, and the Scout Guide Hall with a ‘heritage look’. Electric lighting will be added and seating arrangements will also be renovated to match the grand scale envisioned, said the BMC, adding that Shewale had met MNS Chief Raj Thackeray, who lives beside the park, for his suggestions.

While the BMC has announced that it would increase the greenery in the park, the same project in 2021 had been at the receiving end of criticism from the BJP for the cost involved and other factors. A BMC official said that following the backlash, the project to grow grass was halted and the red soil remained on the ground. “Today, if the grass plan is resumed, some parts of the ground will have to be kept without grass for specific sports like kabaddi and kho-kho,” he said. “Also, the park will need to be shut for a month for the grass to survive.”

Opposing the beautification plans strongly, Prakash Belwade from the Shivaji Park Resident’s Association said that the civic body needed to understand that Shivaji Park was a playing ground and not a garden. “The BMC has turned this park into a money-making business,” he said. “One or the other project keeps getting announced here without understanding the legacy and history of the park. It is a heritage site; why can’t they keep it untouched? The BMC needs to preserve, not beautify this park, or someday there will be no ground and only redeveloped gymkhanas and clubs here.”

Belwade added that 200 to 300 youngsters came from different parts of the state over the weekend to play cricket at Shivaji Park, and this needed to be taken into account. He also hit out at BMC officials and said that the 2021 plan was to use red soil along with cow dung in a 2:1 ratio. “But cow dung was not used at all, which led to the soil causing dust pollution,” he said. “If the BMC had done its job well, this problem wouldn’t have arisen.”

Sanjeev Khanolkar, general secretary of the Shivaji Park Gymkhana who has lived near the park for all the 66 years of his life, said, “If they’re doing something to tackle the problem of dust pollution, that is great. It’s a massive problem here. Renovating the Samarth Vyayam Mandir is also a good idea. But its look, and that of the Scout Hall, should not be changed. Also, none of the beautification projects, like the smog towers, should encroach on the existing Shivaji Park land.”