Bandra Talao in Mumbai's western suburbs needs a revamp

Amidst the congested streets of Bandra residents have limited recreational and open spaces The existing spaces Bandra Bandstand and Carter Road are swarming with shoppers tourists and collegians And yet though the options are so limited a potentially scenic spot remains closed to the public Bandra Talao also known as the Pink Talao spans 75 acres in breadth PicsNimesh Dave But it was not always so for Swami Vivekanand Sarovar popularly known as the Bandra Talao The initial makeover plan was proposed by the BMC in 2009 at a cost of Rs 33 crore The comprehensive plan included a pathway boating facilities laser light show for 30 minutes aquarium and a musical fountain The plan also included dewatering and desilting the lake which spans 75 acres In 2011 and again in April this year the plan to beautify the Talao was revived though no action was taken Today when one visits the Grade II heritage site one sees broken benches a nonfunctioning water fountain garbage flowing into the Talao from a nearby BMC dustbin and locals defecating near the surrounding wall According to BMC officials the Talaorsquos beautification process has been stalled due to lack of funds Necessity Residentsrsquo Association HWard Citizens Federation trustee Vidya Vaidya claims that unplanned commercialization has destroyed the natural environment She says ldquoWater bodies are perfect for holding runoff water during the monsoon hence reducing water logging and flooding Since the Talao is located near a residential area preserving the Talao is essential for various reasons including saving Mumbairsquos ecological systemrdquo She continues ldquoWe want sustained all year round maintenance of the lake Unless it is kept clean the Talao is going to die We want it to be distilled make sure no garbage is going into it and its peripheries are clean Otherwise even if you put in boating light shows fences and so on it is uselessrdquo Due to pollution aquatic life in the Talao is in danger Concerns Environmental activist and ecologist Jagdish Gandhi expresses concern over the fast declining rate of water bodies in the city He says ldquoWhen you look at the current state of Bandra Talao it is luckier than other water bodies It has been provided with some assistance over the years But the problem here is that it is decaying Until and unless it is used it is bound to die Every water body is Mother Naturersquos endowment to mankind The fact is that water bodies are disintegrating in the city but the real scare is that the authorities MLAs and corporators are not interested in conservationrdquo Parts of the water fountain which was going to be a part of the revamp lie unused Proposal Corporator Asif Zakaria has been fighting for Bandra Talaorsquos revamp for the last five years He says ldquoIn the lsquo80s the Talao was well maintained and functioning It was used as a recreational space But once the BMC took over the Talao its condition started deteriorating ldquoThen in 2011 architect P K Das and I came up with a lower budgeted proposal to revamp the Talao Our proposal statement was of R 34 crore We both felt that dewatering the Talao didnrsquot make sense The cleanliness process attempted by the BMC in 2011 The water lacked aeration ie the process of increasing the oxygen saturation of the water So we suggested installing water fountains since natural aeration would not be impossible We also suggested creating a suspended pathway similar to a dock to assist visitors I donrsquot think BMC lacks funds In fact I feel they should take it upon themselves and make sure the Talao is revamped I donrsquot understand the need for the project to remain in limbo for such a long time but I hope it is better late than neverrdquo Bandra Talaorsquos revamp process has been delayed by the BMC since 2009 PicGoogle Maps Assistance Architect PK Das says ldquoWe had submitted a proposal to the BMC two years ago At first the BMC seemed interested and we carried forward the cleaning of the Talao But after that nothing materialized Itrsquos a shame the Talao is left hanging without any beautification taking placerdquoKasim Sheikh has been living and working as a watchman at the Talao since 1990s He says ldquoEvery year they BMC come here with some new plan to beautify they have a ribbon cutting ceremony clap their hands and go away u00a0u00a0 Environmentalist and ecologist Jagdish Gandhiu00a0Resident Vidya Vaidya wants annual maintenance andu00a0Assistant Engineer of Bandra HWard Rajesh Yadav There is so much of dirt lying beneath it has to be cleaned They donrsquot even pay me for my work and they say lsquotum free mein yahaan ek jhopde mein reh sakto ho issi ko apna pagaar maan lo aur shukar karo ke ab tumhare paas ghar hairsquo you can stay in the adjacent hut of the Talao for free consider that as a payment You at least have a home However responding to Sheikhrsquos allegations about lack of payment and security Assistant Engineer of Bandra HWard Rajesh Yadav says ldquoI donrsquot think there is a family living there since so many yearsrdquo Residents Dry cleaner Babu Kumar lives at Panchwadi Bhavnani estate adjacent to the Talao His 17yearold daughter was recently diagnosed with dengue He says ldquoWith dengue you canrsquot really blame any specific source but that does not mean we can rule out the Talao During the rains the Talao overflows with garbage and the stink is unbearablerdquo Resident Mani Patel has been living in Bandra since she was born She says ldquoThough I have lived in Bandra all my life the Talao was never a part of my hangout destination since the environment of the Talao was never welcoming If the Talao is not maintained I am sure we will lose out on a landmarkrdquo Shyama Kulkarni trustee of Action for Good Governance and Networking in India AGNI an NGO which works for city issues says ldquoWe usually end up blaming the BMC but I donrsquot think it is only their fault As citizens we need to be more conscious and not throw garbage there The slums around the Talao should have cleanliness drives regularly and people should be educated about littering and defecating in public The Talao is a valued landmark and it should be protected and conservedrdquo Official Yadav says ldquoMLAs and councillors hold regular meetings for discussing the beautification process of Bandra Talao But the Planning and Design Department PND has to sanction funds and only then can we move ahead with the plans In the last meeting held a couple of months ago everyone agreed that the project has been stalled for many yearsrdquo Executive engineer of the PND department Dharma Adhikari says ldquoThe estimate and the plan to revamp the Talao is in place The only reason why the revamp process is stalled is because we lack funds For Bandra Talao a provision of only R 50000 is available We require R 28 crore Once the plan is passed by the standing committee the beautification process will startrdquo Talao redevelopment plan In 2011 Corporator Asif Zakaria and architect P K Das came up with a proposal to revamp Bandra Talao The proposal was submitted to the BMC and the initial cleanliness process of the Talao was conducted after which according to Zakaria the proposal was not followed by the BMC The plan above displays walkways boardwalks and other beautification ideas to be constructed at the Bandra Talao The proposal stated lack of public interaction seclusion of the Talao from its surroundings garbage disposal into the lake and pollution of water as the existing problems of the Talao The plan proposed interaction by creating a boardwalk and boating facilities creating setbacks by constructing walkways and carrying out continuous aeration of water by installing multiple water fountains as solutions The estimated cost of this proposal was Rs 34 crore History of Bandra Talao Bandra Talao is a strategically located manmade lake The lake also called lsquoMotha Sarovarrsquo was constructed by a rich Konkani Muslim of Navpada some 200 years ago A Grade II heritage site it was formerly known as Lotus Tank or Pink Talao as the lake was covered with lotuses and water lilies The maintenance of the Talao was taken over by the BMC and the lake was renamed Swami Vivekanand Sarovar in 1987 The Talao was functional during the 1990s with boating facilities and pisciculture activities but it has been nonfunctional since 2000 Popular lakes in the city Powai Lake Powai Lake is an artificial lake and it was built with a depth of 12 metres 39 ft at its deepest The Powai Lake has gone through many stages of water quality degradation Government of Maharashtra reports that due to untreated sewage and garbage from nearby residential and slum colonies the lake water is unfit for drinking use Tulsi Lake Tulsi Lake is the second largest fresh water lake in northern Mumbai It is located within the densely forested Sanjay Gandhi National Park Four million imperial gallons is supplied to Greater Mumbai per day Fresh water crocodiles inhabit the lake Vihar Lake It is located near Vihar village on the Mithi River within the precincts of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in North Mumbai Vihar lake is hemmed between Tulsi Lake and Powai Lake It partly meets the cityrsquos water demands and the lake is able to supply only 3 per cent of Mumbairsquos water requirementu00a0