Furniture up your street
Walking on Mumbai’s crowded streets may become an altogether better experience some time next year. You will still keep on bumping into people but you will bump into a few other things as well, like newspaper stands at street corners or information kiosks.
The BMC has already shortlisted seven international firms to carry out a survey to ensure that Mumbai’s unique features - its high-density population, cluttered development and congested roads - are all taken into account before a final blue-print is ready. “The firms will complete a basic survey of city in the next three months and actual work on the ground may start by January next year,” a senior official said.
The BMC has divided the city into seven zones, each of which will have street furniture placed intelligently. And it will not spend any money on the plan; it will, instead , have firms installing all the street furniture and these firms will have advertising rights.
The project aims to improve existing public amenities, make it easier for pedestrians to negotiate Mumbai’s pavements and provide the city with an attractive streetscape. “Coordinated street furniture is a basic infrastructure that every city should have and such an initiative can help promote and enhance Mumbai’s unique identity,” conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah said. She is on the committee set up by the BMC to harmonise design and placement of street furniture.
The project will also try to provide a unique identity to different areas of the city with lightings , decorative pavings and public art. “Many people have expressed a strong willingness to participate in any form of artistic expression,” an official said.
But officials say there may be some holes in the plan. The BMC, for instance, has not taken into account BEST bus stops; these shelters have already been handed over to private players for development and maintenance. There is also no mention of the ideal width of footpaths. But officials say these are minor hitches that can be overcome with a little manoeuvring.
Tags: arc, bump, corn, dy, fir, furniture, holes, initiative, lighting, money, street furniture, tea, tops, urn, whRelated posts
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