Ex-BJP corporator slams BMC for halting tourist-friendly project in Colaba
The project has been shelved by the BMC without any explanation. Representation Pic/Makarand Narwekar
Former BJP corporator of Colaba, advocate Makarand Narwekar, claimed that BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani has put a stay on the proposed Horse Carousel project at Cooperage Garden in Colaba. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 1.52 crore for a 32-seater horse carousel.
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Rahul Narwekar, Speaker of the state Legislative Assembly and MLA of Colaba had tabled a proposal to start a horse carousel in Cooperage Garden. This garden was previously known for horse riding, which the BMC shut down a few years ago following the death of a visitor. The BMC’s Mechanical and Engineering Department prepared an estimate of Rs 1.52 crore for the project in February 2024.
Makarand stated that the Mechanical and Engineering Department had approved the project, but civic chief Bhushan Gagrani put it on hold. “This is an important tourist-friendly initiative,” Makarand said, adding that, like the Colaba Causeway and Gateway of India projects, this initiative has also been shelved without any explanation for the stay.
Makarand has written a letter to the civic chief, highlighting the horse carousel project as well as the stalled Colaba Causeway and Gateway of India projects. According to Makarand, projects worth Rs 60 crore, including underground parking and a viewing deck at Regal Junction, along with the standardisation of hawking stalls at Colaba Causeway, have also been put on hold.
“The BMC has approved projects worth hundreds of crores, whose financial prudence is questionable, yet it finds itself capable of taking away the joy of young children by staying a plan worth only Rs 2 crore. The BMC’s anti-Colaba bias remains unexplained. I hope better sense prevails, and the BMC stops hindering Colaba’s path to becoming a tourist- and citizen-friendly space,” Makarand wrote in his letter.
“It was never approved in the first place, so there is no question of cancelling it,” said civic chief Bhushan Gagrani. “However, since the proposal is worth considering, I have already instructed the ward office to work on it,” he added.
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