Mumbai’s `New Millenium Look’ takes off

MUMBAI, APRIL 28: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is all set to steal the limelight from its neighbour, Thane, as ambitious project...

MUMBAI, APRIL 28: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is all set to steal the limelight from its neighbour, Thane, as ambitious projects to give Mumbai a `New Millenium Look’ began with a kickstart on Thursday. “A memorandum of understanding for the `New Millenium Look Project’ was signed between the civic administration and the All India Association of Industries for funding and project management,” Municipal Commissioner, K Nalinakshan told the media today. The project cost is about Rs 20 crore and will take about two years to complete.

The three-phase project envisages beautification of roads, complete with installation of aesthetic street

furniture, renovation of pavements and landscping, and installation of police chowkies, telephone booths and the like. The programme is part of the `Four Point Programme of the Mayor’, which consists of beautification of 50 major roads in the city, detection of water leakages, vermiculture of garbage and mosquito control.

To begin with, the AIAI will undertake the arterial road from Nariman Point to Sahar airport for beautification. The other works under Phase-I include installation of platform railings, potted plants, litter bins, tree guards, traffic signs, directional boards, painting wherever neccesary, levelling pavements and marking of pedestrian crossings.

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Phase-II wil include illumination of centre medians and directional towers, islands and traffic umbrellas, etc. In the third phase, work on telephone booths, police chowkies, pay-and-park booths, shop-boards, bus stops, toilets, water fountains etc will be undertaken.

The MoU was signed by the commissioner for the BMC and by Vijay Kalantri and Rupa Naik for the AIAI. “We had made an appeal to industrial houses and corporate bodies to come forward to undertake these projects,” said Nalinakshan. In response, the AIAI forwarded their beautification proposals, which were submitted to the Core Committee of the municipal corporation, which has approved these proposals, he said.

Work on installation of street furniture and renovation of street elements which demand major changes to the supporting infrastructure will be carried out in coordination with bodies like the Traffic Department and BEST. No major structural changes will be brought about in renovating pavements. The installation of signage and support structures such as name plates for roads and public utlities, directional boards for vehicular and pedestrian traffic and traffic signs will form a major part of the project. “The designs will vary as per the needs and requirements of the location,” said an official from the IAIA. The project will involve the support and cooperation from corporates, financial institutions, banks and others.