RTI reveals 13-storey parking lot plan at park!

In an RTI reply on Monday to a query by residents of Bandra West the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has revealed the map for a 10storey parking tower with two basement floors at Patwardhan Park instead of the threestorey underground lot mentioned in a tender notice Local residents have been fighting for the past two months against the civic bodyrsquos decision to construct an underground parking facilityThe BMCrsquos claim and reports on parking solutions are just an eyewash residents said The BMC had floated a tender on March 6 2023 for a parking lot under a portion of Patwardhan Park next to Balgandharva Rangmandir Residents and activists have been consistently opposing the moveIllustration of the parking lot in the RTI replyWhat RTI reply revealedNow in an RTI reply to activist Zoru Bhathena the BMC has revealed the map of a parking tower with two basement floors and a ground plus 10storey building The BMC mentioned a threestorey underground parking lot in its tender notice ldquoBut as per the documents received by RTI it is revealed that the BMC has a plan to construct a tower on the said plot And after the BMC issues a tender they can change the plan later onrdquo said BhathenaAlso read Mumbai In its haste to beautify BMC defaces beachThe RTI letter on April 3 requested the office of the Garden Department of H west ward to provide copies of entire files available in the BMC office pertaining to the tender proposal for parking below Patwardhan Park In the reply given on Monday the BMC has given the plan for a 10storey parking tower on a part of Patwardhan Park The RTI reply also revealed that local MLA Ashish Shelar requested the BMC civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal to build a parking lot at Patwardhan Park in November In a letter dated November 25 2022 to the Garden Department at H west ward the deputy chief engineer of traffic has mentioned that the commissioner directed the traffic department to review the proposal for parking at the park and to process the tender within 15 days Accordingly BMC traffic department officials visited Patwardhan Park and found five peltophorum trees which may require replantation The traffic department requested to get remarks from the Garden Department at the earliestResidents and activists have been opposing the move for a parking lot under Patwardhan Park File picPradeep DhivarThe Garden Department replied on December 1 that no plan was received with the letter and if the proposal is submitted along with a map and necessary documents the proposal can be further submitted for the approval of the tree authority after inspectionBhathena also claimed that BMC officials said that they have conducted a report for checking sites in January 2023 But if the decision was taken in November itself then the report is just an eyewashldquoThere isnrsquot any such plan How could we construct such a high tower on the plot How can a 10storey structure be built for just R75 crore as mentioned in the tender We mentioned a threestorey underground structure in the tender notice but now we will revise it to a twostorey structure as per the existing normsrdquo said an official from the BMCrsquos traffic departmentP Velarasu additional commissioner of the BMC remained unavailable for comment despite messagesDeaf ear to residentsrsquo oppositionThe BMC is pushing for underground parking at Appasaheb Patwardhan Park despite opposition from residents and activists In the latest development on April 18 65 residents came together in the park to discuss the issue and invited local MLA As MLA Ashish Shelar didnrsquot turn up residents marched to his office and handed over a letter requesting a meeting at the park ldquoWe have been trying to meet him for the past one and half month But he isnrsquot getting time He hasnrsquot assured us that the process of tender will be stopped till the meeting So we went to his office to request him one more timerdquo said one of the residentsResidents had also invited six local former corporators to the meeting Asif Zakaria from Congress and Raja Rehbar Khan were present and supported the residents while four other corporators Alka Kerkar Swapna Mhatre Hetal Gala Sanjay Agaldare skipped it BMC officials also did not visit the park as requested by residents