Mumbai: Amid opposition, BMC’s standing committee on Thursday passed a proposal to provide Rs 702 crore in funds to MMRC for construction of an underground pedestrian vestibule connecting Science Centre Metro 3 station to the Worli promenade via Mahalaxmi Racecourse.The proposed 1.3km link is to be implemented by MMRC while BMC is to fund the project.Opposition corporators questioned the need for construction by MMRC instead of the civic body. MNS’s Yashwant Killedar asked why BMC was funding it when MMRC is a govt venture. “Does govt not have funds?” he said. Zameer Qureshi from AIMIM said BMC could have done the work on its own, especially since it had built the entire Coastal Road. Congress’s Ashraf Azmi said while his party was not opposed to the vestibule, it would hit BMC’s finances. “By the end of this year, you have to pay Rs 8,000 crore to those contractors who are preparing to carry out all this work.”The committee’s chairperson, Prabhakar Shinde, said the Coastal Road had proved to be a pioneering project for Mumbaikars. A grand landscaped garden has been proposed over about 300 acres alongside the project. Along with this garden, the promenade on the Coastal Road will also be made available to citizens. However, while reaching the area on four-wheelers is relatively easy, adequate connectivity is not available to those using public transport or going on foot, Shinde said. The underground pedestrian passage will help address this, he said.
