mid-day turns 40 - Let's Talk: R A Rajeev and Vidyadhar Phatak

Updated On: 28 June, 2019 07:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar and Ranjeet Jadhav

The metropolitan commissioner and a retired MMRDA Town Planner discuss the drastic yet badly needed changes they orchestrated for a city that continues to burst at its seams.

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Vidyadhar Phatak and R A Rajeev. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar and Nimesh Dave

Exactly like the creation of Mumbai's business district, the Bandra Kurla Complex, acted like a catalyst in the 1970s aiding its decongestion and growth, the introduction of the much-needed Metro rail lines promises to open up the city's blocked sinuses or overburdened infra, like magic. We catch up with two top officials who have been right in the middle of this transformation and instrumental in getting things done. Retired MMRDA town planner Vidyadhar Phatak, who describes himself as an urbanist, has been a key figure in the formation of the present-day Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), while MMRDA's Metropolitan Commissioner RA Rajeev is the man spearheading the Metro Rail revolution in Mumbai with work on 300 km of Metro rail currently going on in the city simultaneously.

Vidyadhar Phatak:

What was the rationale behind creating BKC? The one big reason.
The proposal to develop Bandra Kurla Complex was first conceived around 1958 by senior bureaucrat SG Barve and team. The plan remained on paper for a while and received no mention in the 1964 development plan. It was only in 1967-70 that it was mentioned for the first time in the Bombay Metropolitan Regional Plan as a solution to decongest the city.

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