Mahalaxmi playground now open for Mayor’s bungalow

Mumbai: Following uproar over construction of a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials’ gymkhana on a Mahalaxmi playground, the State government has reserved the plot for municipal housing. This means the ground will be an option for the Mayor’s bungalow apart from the plot at Shivaji Park.

The proposal to change the reservation of the plot from playground to municipal housing has been put in the Excluded Plan of the Development Plan (DP) 2034. People can submit their suggestions and objections within one month from the publication of the DP in the gazette.

The Hindu had reported in its Friday edition that the existing Mayor’s bungalow at Shivaji Park has been reserved for the Bal Thackeray memorial in the DP notification issued on Thursday.

While the Shiv Sena wanted a BMC bungalow in Malabar Hill for the Mayor’s, the building is the residence of a senior bureaucrat, and all attempts to get it had failed.

The BMC had proposed a gymkhana exclusively for its officials on the Mahalaxmi playground earlier this year. The gymkhana with a cafeteria, swimming pool, and sporting facilities, was to cost ₹45 crore. The BJP had opposed the exclusive use for the civic body officials, and instead said that the Mayor’s bungalow be built there.

The Sena, insistent on the Malabar Hill bungalow, approved the proposal in February. However, two weeks later, the Sena-led works committee rejected the proposal after a re-think.

After much deliberation between the planning committee and the State government, the reservation for the gymkhana at Mahalaxmi was deleted. It has now been reserved for municipal housing. The plot is approximately 11,000 square metres, similar to the size of the existing Mayor’s bungalow. Besides, a 4,345 square metre plot at Shivaji Park has been given the same reservation. The Sena now has two plots to take a pick.

“The new bungalow should be suitable for the post of the Mayor who is the first citizen. It should suit his stature. A decision will be taken in due course,” Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said.

BJP corporators were not available for comment.