Mumbai: The Muncipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has scrapped the proposal to have a 23-floor tall robotic parking tower in front of Matunga (east) railway station. The FPJ and local citizens have been campaigning against the Rs 126-cr project since it would have blocked access to the station in the event of a rail accident and also created chaos in the area.

Additional municipal commissioner Ashwini Joshi told FPJ that a recommendation for cancellation of the controversial project has been made to municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani. The order for cancellation of the tender is likely to be issued later this week. The FPJ had published as many as 13 reports about the raging controversy.

Local activists, including Chetan Trivedi, and the Petition Group comprising Dr Gaurang Vora, Kamlakar Shenoy and others, have also launched a campaign against the project. There were allegations that the project was aimed a benefiting a big builder of Matunga who was having a commercial project.

Ashwini Joshi had recently held a meeting with the Chief Engineer (Roads and Traffic) and other senior civic officials to review the project in the context of strong objection from a large number of local citizens and it was decided to scrap the proposal on sound technical and legal grounds.

The FPJ had first reported on November 26, 2024 that citizen activists in Matunga are up in arms over the construction of the parking tower citing the disadvantages and risks to the common public it would create. It was later revealed that the project, estimated at Rs 126 crore, had only a provisional NOC from the Fire Brigade as the plot does not have a city survey number and the project was sanctioned offline.

In the latest report published on January 20, 2024, this newspaper reported that the feasibility study for the car parking project outside Matunga Central Railway Station, which the citizens sought through RTI, does not mention a parking tower.

A senior BMC officer on the condition of anonymity said that the ower project had several lacunae. Recently, meetings were held with municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and additional municipal commissioner Ashwini Joshi. Taking serious note of the issues raised by the residents, it has been decided to cancel the project, the officer said.

General Secretary of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Snehal Jadhav, who had written to the BMC Commissioner condemning that project, told FPJ that the BMC infrastructure department informed her that the tender cancellation is in process. “The project was nothing but a safety hazard. Thousands of college students by the area everyday and passengers were put at risk if any disaster took place at the railway station,” Jadhav said.

Matunga citizen activist Chetan Trivedi said, “We are glad that BMC is cancelling the project. The authorities should ensure that infrastructure development in the city should not be at the cost of citizens’ safety.”