After outcry, MBMC dumps plan of private player for Chowpatty

Bhayandar: Following a huge public outrage, the BJP-led Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) was forced to rollback its plans of assigning a private player for the maintenance and upkeep of the Bhayandar creek – popularly known as the Jesal Park Chowpatty.

This in-exchange of commercial exploitation in the form of allowing food kiosks to generate revenue at the waterfront. The decision was taken after BJP legislator Narendra Mehta and municipal corporators of his party gauged the depth of anger and resentment amongst the local populace at a meeting held in Bhayandar (east) on Wednesday.

The participants openly voiced their dissent against the privatization move which according to them would not only create an unhygienic atmosphere and disrupt peace, but would also pose a great amount of inconvenience to visitors especially senior citizens. It should be noted that despite strong protests by the opposition parties, the BJP had managed to pass the resolution on the virtue of their majority in the general body house.

Though the foreshore land has been handed over the by the district collector, the MBMC has been restrained from leasing out the open space to private entities. A similar attempt to set up stalls at the scenic creek front was made two years back, however thanks to the opposition by local residents, the civic administration was forced to go on the back foot. Interestingly, municipal officials and contractors have earlier been booked under the Environment (Protection) Act for massive constructions in the ecologically sensitive area which falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).