The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation’s (MSRDC) project to beautify Bandra Reclamation promenade still lies in limbo as DB Realty is showing no urgency to complete the project. The company had bagged the project two years ago. The MSRDC shot off a penalty notice for delay in the project. The initial plan was to complete the project by January 2011.
The project design was broadly divided into three parts — jogging track, sea edge and road edge.
In April 2010 when DB Realty was given the initiative, the plan was to have Saptdeep Stambh or seven pillars depicting history of seven islands of Mumbai, Bollywood Celebrity Walk, Board Walk, Tower of Destiny or Sheesh Minar. Apart from this there are also plans to create an amphitheatre and an area for meditation along with sit-outs at the promenade.
“We have sent a notice to DB Realty asking them to cough up penalty for delay in the project,” confirmed an official from MSRDC. The notice has been sent to the developer only in the last two months.
However, when MSRDC chairman and PWD minister Jaydutt Kshirsagar
was asked about the delay in the project and what took so long for the MSRDC to send the notice, he said, “I am unaware
about the project details and will not be able to tell you anything about the deadline and the penalty aspect.”
Mr Kshirsagar kept mum when asked whether the company did not complete the task due to the crisis during 2G spectrum scam.
An official confirmed that the penalty is somewhere in between `10 to 50 lakh. However, the MSRDC officials are unsure when the project would be completed and are tightlipped on giving a deadline for the project.
According to the plan, a 1.25 km long and 40 metre wide stretch of the promenade was to be developed by the developer in lieu of advertisement rights on 25 plaques and in return MSRDC would gain `7.8 crore.