Mumbai: The civic body will construct its first underground art gallery, cafeteria and public toilet, equipped with escalators and lifts, near Lion Gate in Kala Ghoda. The project is aimed at decongesting South Mumbai’s heritage precinct and reclaiming pedestrian space. It will also address concerns over pedestrian movement and the aesthetics of the area. An aspirational toilet and a Solid Waste Management (SWM) department chowky near Lion Gate will be demolished as part of the project, with the facilities relocated underground.Senior civic officials confirmed that the project has received the go-ahead and BMC is expected to float a tender soon. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 28 crore. “We will have escalators for coming up as well as going down to the facility, and it will be a first of its kind,” said an official.The project envisages replacing all above-ground structures with two compact entry blocks at ground level, equipped with escalators leading to a sprawling 1,668-square-metre underground facility. The facility will integrate public utilities with cultural and commercial amenities, including a 470-square-metre art gallery/commercial space, a 330-square-metre cafeteria, a 255-square-metre BMC chowky and 520 square metres dedicated to circulation and services. It will also have a 50-square-metre women’s washroom and a 43-square-metre men’s washroom.The project aims to address concerns over pedestrian movement, including the lack of a continuous walkway and visual inconsistency in the architectural character of the area, besides improving the aesthetics around the existing toilet and civic SWM chowky.Corporator Makarand Narwekar had raised the issue of the toilet and chowky obstructing the pedestrian walkway and clashing with the surrounding architectural character. Narwekar had earlier demanded the demolition of the aspirational toilet, which he alleged was constructed illegally. He said the project would complement the larger heritage precinct masterplan, which includes pedestrianisation and planned underground parking in the area.“The newly constructed toilet and chowky were blocking pedestrian movement. Besides, Kala Ghoda’s appeal as a tourist and cultural destination would be enhanced after this project,” Narwekar said.According to the corporator, the civic body had originally planned a 0.9- to 1.5-metre-wide footpath at the location, a commitment that remained unfulfilled. He said this highlighted BMC’s acknowledgement that it had violated its own ‘Pedestrian First’ policy. “To permanently eliminate the bottleneck, we had urged the administration to float tenders to shift the entire facility below ground. Relocating these utilities underground will restore safe walkways and complement existing pedestrian zones and planned underground parking in the area,” Narwekar said.
