A gabled roof to high-tech facilities: Mayor’s new bungalow to have it all

3-storey structure to come up on 2,745-sqm civic gymkhana plot at Shivaji Park, Dadar

MUMBAI: Mumbai mayor’s new bungalow is proposed to be a three-storey structure built in the Indo-saracenic style, a mix of Indian and colonial architecture with sloping, gabled roof and big windows, across a 2,745sqm plot next to Dadar Chowpatty at Shivaji Park. The design will be finalised soon, after which the municipal architecture department will send it to civic chief Ajoy Mehta.

The new bungalow will be two plots away from the existing bungalow for the mayor at Shivaji Park, which will now be turned into a memorial for the late Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray.

The plot is empty with only a gymkhana for civic employees. As a temporary arrangement, the mayor is staying in a bungalow on the Byculla zoo premises.

Shalaka Lalwani, architect from COBOL Architects and Planners and who drafted the plan, said, “The bungalow has to match the mayor’s standard, as foreign delegates and various leaders visit it. The ground and first floor will have conference rooms, meeting rooms, a multipurpose hall and other official spaces. The top floor will be his private residence. The lower

ground will have parking facility for 15 cars, staff quarters and services.”

A civic official from the architecture department said, “Although the plot is located in the island city and has a floor space index of 1.33, we will not use the entire FSI. At least 50% of the area will be open space. We want the bungalow to be an iconic structure and represent Mumbai. The decision will be taken after a final meeting with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.”

The proposed building will have a video-conferencing facility, solar panel and segregation units, which were not available in the previous bungalow. The wiring system in the old bungalow was also too old, and as it was a heritage structure the civic body could not carry any major repairs or changes.

Despite opposition from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and environment activists who suspect that the plot would eat into the green space adjacent to the Narali Baug plot, the civic body has gone ahead with the plan.

The estimated cost of the new bungalow is ₹5-6 crore. Sandeep Deshpande, MNS leader, said, “We will file a PIL in the court because it is the question of thousands of civic employees who use the gymkhana, and hundreds who visit the garden, which will become inaccessible to the public once the bungalow comes up.”