|
 A hungry sea will soon be starved of its daily diet. The walker’s strip at Priyadarshini Park, Napean Sea Road is being rapidly eroded by marine action that has been regularly devouring it. While stopgap measures like stones and boulders were being used to stop the erosion of the path, there is now a move to make measures permanent.
Phase one of the walker’s stretch, formally renamed as Priyadarshini Promenade, will include strengthening the stretch by ‘bunding’. According to BA Desai, president of the Malabar Hill Citizens Forum which is spearheading the project, Phase one has already got all the necessary clearances. Work will begin in March after a Bhoomi Poojan, and is slated for completing in early 2009.
Who will foot the bill?
Riding on a Rs 10 lakh fund by Milind Deora from his MP’s fund, the entire stretch (from Petit Hall to Embassy Apartments) at Napean Sea road is going to be reinforced in Phase one of the project. No new structure will be constructed though, stresses the president. “The Rs 10 lakh fund is not enough, so more funds will be raised in stages. I will be looking for more funds through corporate sponsorship,” says Desai.
On to Breach Candy
What is more exciting, though, is that Phase II of the Priyadarshini Promenade will see the promenade stretching all along the shoreline right up to Breach Candy’s Amarsons Park, next to the US consulate building. It is still early days to speculate about Phase II, though. “Some permissions for Phase II are yet to be got,” says Desai. “A lot of funds will be needed for the promenade to stretch right to Breach Candy,” adds Susiie Shah secretary, Malabar Hill Citizens’ Forum.
Gung Ho Susiie
Shah is optimistic about the entire project going through, even though various obstacles and money crunches can stymie initiatives like these. “I am sure the entire project, right up to Phase II, will be completed eventually. After all, we have the goodwill of the people and the determination, perseverance and vision to see it through.”
Walker’s utopia
Desai laughs as he says,“Our ambition eventually is to have a walker’s promenade all along the sea from Hanging Garden to Priyadarshini Park, running to Breach Candy and ending at Mahalakshmi Temple. Walkers can pray at the temple before going home. But that is just a Utopian dream right now.”
| 
