Strapped for space, Mumbai has a new fancy address

South Mumbai — home to some of the wealthiest and most well-known people in India — has for years been grappling with a space problem that money has not been able to fix. The coveted 67 sq km “town”, which starts from Colaba on the southern tip of the island and extends to Mahim and Sion on its northern coast, is not only one of the most densely populated living spaces in the world, but also the most expensive real estate, with properties that sell for Rs 1 lakh per sq ft. Which explains why it’s always been an address that people of “SoBo” (South Bombay) hold on to tight.

But today with the pandemic having rendered most people home, and invasive infrastructure projects, like the Coastal Road Project and the metro, not only threatening to
“change the face of the city” but also obstruct their apartment sea view as new highways hem the coastline, the “townies” are having to look at their sleepy, picturesque coastal town of Alibaug about 95km away, as a new and posh Mumbai.

According to author and columnist Shobhaa De, whose family has had a home in Alibaug’s Chondi village for over three decades now, says Alibaug offers the “exact opposite” of what Mumbai has. “Land and space are two commodities that you cannot buy in Mumbai, no matter how much money you have,” De says. “No matter how much money you have in Mumbai, you will continue to live vertically. You can’t even dream of owning a two-acre plot, where you grow your own vegetables or build a pool like you can in Alibaug.”