Street furniture, murals, enhanced traffic islands and more; each Mumbai ward to go under Rs 30 crore beautification

Mumbai: All municipal wards under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will undergo a redevelopment drive to improve roads and related facilities. The civic body has decided to allot a fund of Rs 30.5 crore to each of the 24 administrative wards and Rs 10 crore will be immediately allotted under the beautification project.

The plan includes improvement of traffic islands, road dividers, illumination of major junctions and improvement of pedestrian walkways as well as installation of street furniture and wall paintings. The BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal directed the civic authorities that at least 50 percent of the work should be completed by December 2022.

The corporation is planning a huge revamp of its roads and allied facilities at an estimated cost of Rs 1705 crore. Around Rs, 500 crore has already been allotted for resurfacing of roads across the city. The civic body hopes to complete the entire project by March 2023. However, there will be a difference seen on the ground by the year-end, a senior official said.

Out of the total Rs 30.5 crores allocated to each ward, Rs 6.5 crore has been earmarked for the beautification of road dividers. Rs 4.5 crore will be used for the improvement of footpaths while Rs 5 crore is for illuminating footpaths. For setting up street furniture, beautification of traffic islands, optimum use of public spaces underneath bridges and installation of street lighting, Rs 3.25 crore each will be used. Illuminating bridges in municipal wards will be carried out at Rs 80 lakh and Rs 75 lakh to be used for wall painting and murals.

The BMC is planning to resurface 200 km of roads, worth Rs 500 crore. The civic body has floated tenders for Rs 200 crore last week. This is the first phase of the Mumbai beautification project and the corporation and the work will be completed within three months.