Mumbai: The controversy over the proposed reduction in the width of Walkeshwar Road reached BMC commissioner Ashwini Bhide with residents meeting her on Tuesday.Malabar Hill residents placed before her the facts surrounding the road, including the sanctioned width of 27.5 metres under the 1967, 1991 and even 2018 DP plans and the subsequent proposal to reduce it.Locals said the meeting was attended by several senior civic officials, including the chief engineer of traffic and chief engineer DP. Walkeshwar Road, from Bandstand from Tambe Chowk to Teen Batti, currently measures about 13.9 metres, while civic records show a sanctioned road line of 27.5 metres dating back to July 13, 1967. An internal BMC note from Aug 2022, though, described implementing the full width as “not feasible” and proposed reducing it to 17 metres.Architect Jashwant Mehta, a resident of the area, said till the time the BMC revokes the resolution under which the prescribed road line was reduced, as per Section 297(1)(b) of the MMC Act, their fight against it would stay. The BMC’s D ward had issued a stop-work notice to a developer undertaking construction at a site along the same stretch. However, the same was withdrawn in March this year.Tushar Prabhoo, another local resident, said, “We were forced to approach the court, because we realised that there wasn’t any response to our multiple requests made to the civic body. The proposal for the change in the DP to be made was passed when there were no elected representatives and without larger public knowledge.”Civic officials from the DP department, though, said the due process of law was followed before passing the proposal.
