Mumbai: Malabar Hill residents have filed a PIL before the Bombay high court to challenge BMC’s 2023 decision to reduce Walkeshwar Road’s width from Afghan Consulate building to Teen Batti from nearly 27.5m to 17m. The residents refer to an April letter of BMC by which it withdrew its April 2025 stop-work notice.The un-revoked resolution, which the PIL argues is contrary to law, would seriously hamper the entire Walkeshwar portion of the road line and cause traffic congestion. With the uncertainty hovering, they felt restrained to approach the HC as the last resort in public interest.Since the first development plan in 1967 to 2018, the sanctioned width for the Walkeshwar road was 27.5m, and in 2021, it was proposed to be reduced to 17m from Afghan Consulate to Teen Batti, the PIL filed by Malabar Hill Citizens Association, through its convener architect Jaswant Mehta (85) and co-conveners, stated.The PIL further said that the road “has been reduced drastically” in a manner “unprecedented for any road especially for a road like Walkeshwar Road, which is one of the most important roads in Malabar Hill widely serving residents of Walkeshwar road, Ridge Road, Nepean Sea Road, Doongershi Road and surroundings of Banganga area”.The residents have been at loggerheads with BMC and even raised the issue with various state departments since Nov 2024 and it led to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis asking the civic chief to issue a stop-work notice in April 2025 and to restore the width. Work on the project was yet to commence, residents said, and pointed out that “present width of Walkeshwar road is only 13.5m-16m, which is too narrow and widening is badly required”.The BMC commissioner only issued a stop-work notice, but did not withdraw the resolution, and instead called for an IIT-Bombay report, which does not address the concerns raised by residents, the PIL stated.Though no orders were given by the CM’s office, the former civic chief, allegedly before relinquishing the office on March 31, 2026 gave directions to the chief engineer of the development plan department for withdrawal of stop-work notice and on April 8, 2026, the notice was withdrawn, the PIL contended.The HC’s Acting Chief Justice R V Ghuge, who recently has been recommended by the SC collegium to be elevated as Chief Justice of Calcutta HC, last week said the matter would be taken up by the new incoming CJ-led bench.With redevelopment projects initiated due to higher FSI in the neighbourhood, the narrow road would lead to traffic snarls and even hinder vehicular movement of emergency vehicles, the PIL stated.What the Malabar Hill Citizens Association says* The road is a main connecting road leading to Raj Bhavan, Hanging Garden, Kamala Nehru Park, State Guest House, and residences of cabinet ministers and high court judges, besides Elizabeth hospital and Jain temples as well as the Banganga, a world heritage site, and thus witnesses frequent VIP movement, the residents said* The BMC has not taken any serious action to widen or provide even a bare minimum 3m wide footpath on either side, residents said. They added, without elaborating how, that the reduction is allegedly intended to benefit a private developer near Teen Batti junction on seafront side where a 15-storey building is to come up* The reduction of portion of road width of would damage the entire Walkeshwar roadline and would cause serious traffic disorder
