Mumbai: Cabinet nod for Mahalaxmi Race Course theme garden

Cabinet gave the nod to develop a 120-acre New York-like central park. File pic/Shadab Khan

The Eknath Shinde cabinet went into election mode on Monday by clearing 18 policy and populist proposals at its weekly meeting. It gave the nod to develop a 120-acre New York-like central park in Mumbai's Mahalaxmi Race Course precinct.

The garden will be open to all. The space available won't be developed into an amusement park but turned into a themed green space that will provide efficient lungs for the city. The project had run into controversy following political opposition, but CM Shinde took a personal interest in convincing the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) that had been leased a land parcel of which 120 acres were to be given for the park and the rest were to be used for the racing activity. A majority of RWITC members had cleared a proposal made by the Mumbai civic body. The proposal allowed the lease of the century-old racecourse to be extended, on the condition that the club hands over 120 acres of the 211-acre racecourse to the BMC.

The CMO said that the park will be designed on the lines of New York's Central Park and London's Hyde Park. BMC will develop the park. It said that the cabinet had approved to renew RWITC's lease agreement for 91 acres for 30 years, with a provision to renew it regularly as per the existing rules. Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora welcomed the theme park idea and slammed the people opposing it. "Vested interests who failed to do anything for 11 years are now spreading dangerous misinformation about the government's plans for the Mahalakshmi Racecourse," he said in a social media post.

"Today's cabinet decision sets the record straight. 120 acres of land in the heart of Mumbai will be transformed into a people's Central Park. I urge Mumbaikars to get involved & reclaim what is rightfully theirs," he added.

In another decision for the city, the non-residential occupants of the BDD Chawl and slums in the vicinity have been given a concession in stamp duty that will be charged on the transit components. They will pay a token amount of Rs 1,000. Workers of the city's defunct 58 cotton mills have been promised homes in the upcoming phases of the mill workers housing scheme.

The cabinet felt the need to construct a state guest house in Ayodhya for accommodating pilgrims from the state. The guest house will be named Maharashtra Sadan. A land parcel of 9423 square metres will be bought from the Uttar Pradesh Government-run housing agency. The cabinet approved R67.14 crore to buy this land in the holy city's sector 8.
"The Maharashtra Sadan will be a great facility for the pilgrims from Maharashtra. The government will charge reasonably for the stay," said the CMO.

The state also decided that the mother's name would be mandatory in all government documents. The change will come into force from May 1. The child's name will bear her/his first name, mother's name followed by the father's name and last name, in that order. All government documents, educational certificates, service books etc should mandatorily have the name in the new format.

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No. of proposals cleared