BMC opens new pedestrian path connecting Mahalakshmi temple to parking lot

Enabling uninterrupted access to the temple, the newly built swath will allow devotees and tourists to walk to and from the temple to the nearby ‘Hubtown’ parking facility. For the record, the hubtown parking space is the city’s first multi-level robotic shuttle parking system that the civic body launched in 2021.

Situated within the corporation’s D ward — comprising Grant Road, Malabar Hill, Haji Ali and other localities — the Mahalakshmi Temple premise is bound by the sea on the western and northern edges, and Bhulabhai Desai Road on the east and south.

Speaking to The Indian Express, senior civic officials said the pathway was developed over a course of 4 months, including construction of boundary walls on either side of the footpath.

Mantayya Swami, chief engineer of MCRP, said, “The pathway is lower than the reclaimed land. So we built a compound wall along the pathway, on the landward side and a retaining wall on the other side. No vehicles can be driven along this path. Devotees visiting for darshan can use the parking facility, then walk up to the Mahalakshmi temple.”

Following Dussehra, BMC is slated to begin construction on a new drainage line on the landward side of the project.

As per the initial plan, BMC was to construct a foot-over-bridge (FoB) over the water body, to connect the parking spot and temple. But after reclamation of the land, the project was re-imagined, and has now been developed as a footpath.

With its specifications of 6-metre width and 300-metre length, the footpath has been conceptualised to be accessed during emergencies, civic officials added. BMC has also provided battery operated cars to ease the journey for senior citizens, the disabled and others.