Cabinet clears proposal for park in racecourse
The space to be developed along the lines of Central Park, New York and Hyde Park, London
MUMBAI: The state cabinet on Monday cleared a proposal to build parks on a part of Mahalaxmi Racecourse and along the Coastal Road, making the two among the largest open spaces in the city.
120 acres of the racecourse (of the 211 acres leased to the Royal Western India Turf Club) will be developed along the lines of New York’s Central Park and London’s Hyde Park, while 200 acres of reclaimed land along the Coastal Road will be transformed into a garden. The land parcels will be connected with an underground tunnel being built under the Coastal Road. Officials said no construction would be made on the racecourse land, except the theme park, which will be developed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
The plan to develop a land parcel at the racecourse has been in the works for many years. Earlier it was pushed by Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray during the BJP-SHIV Sena rule. Later chief minister Eknath Shinde took it up. The land is jointly owned by the state government and the civic body.
In the recent past, municipal commissioner I S Chahal had a series of meetings with the managing committee of RWITC, before the club agreed to give up a part of the land to be developed into a park on January 30, 2024.
On Monday, Chahal gave a presentation to the state cabinet after which the proposal was cleared. BMC will also spend ₹100 crore on rebuilding stables at the racecourse.
Chahal said, “This is the biggest gift of CM Eknath Shinde to Mumbai.”
This is the biggest gift of CM Eknath Shinde to Mumbai I S CHAHAL, BMC commissioner