Soon, all seafronts to get their own necklace in Mumbai

Like the iconic Queen’s Necklace on Marine Drive, beaches across the city will be decked out in lights in a Rs 50-crore makeover plan

Soon, the Queen’s Necklace on Marine Drive will have company. Beaches across Mumbai will also be decked out in colourful lights all along the shoreline in a R50-crore makeover that has now got the nod from the BMC.

The golden lights along Marine Drive have come to be known as the Queen’s Necklace, one of Mumbai’s iconic attractions. File pic

“Beaches are the identity of Mumbai. The corporation was till now focusing on developing gardens, recreational places and providing other civic amenities. But in order to make our seafronts a proper tourist hub, the civic body has given the go-ahead for the beautification of the city beaches,” said BMC chief Ajoy Mehta.

This makeover will be along the lines of Long beach in California, Santa Monica Pier (Los Angeles) and Manly beach (Sydney). Juhu beach will be the first to be lit up, followed by the Dadar and Gorai beaches, after which the remaining beaches will also be covered. The corporation expects to complete lighting all the beaches in the city within a year.

Last week, senior corporation officials held a meeting to discuss the plan and budget for beautification of these beaches.

According to the plans, the corporation will issue tenders within a month. In fact the process will begin as soon as Monday for Juhu beach.

Sanjay Mukherjee, additional municipal commissioner (special projects), said, “The tendering process for the beautification of Juhu beach will commence on Monday. The makeover cost is estimated to be around R20 crore. The remaining Rs 30 crore will be utilised for the beautification of other beaches.”

While civic authorities are confident of getting the project cleared within a couple of months, a section of civic officials are sceptical about the one-year deadline to complete the task.

A senior official stated that they are yet to get clearances from the coastal authorities to install the poles and lights.

Mukherjee added, “The process for tenders and getting the nod from the Coastal Regulation Zone authorities will be a concurrent process, as this will help in speedy implementation of the plans chalked out by the corporation.”

Features
>> Colourful lights will be installed across all seafronts
>> More lights to be installed at spots where Ganesh visarjan take place
>> Eco-friendly and low-maintenance LED lights will be used
>> The fixtures will have 350-degree rotation and 110-degree tilt functions, so light will be emitted in all directions

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