Bird trails, micro forests, pickleball courts on Coastal Road’s 70 hectares of open space

The 10.58-kilometre long coastal road was opened to the public in March 2024. The entire road was created by reclaiming 111 hectares of the Arabian Sea and of the total area reclaimed only 40 hectares comprises roads, traffic interchanges and bridges, while the remaining 70 hectares are barren land parcels waiting to be developed into gardens and open spaces.

However, ever since the road was inaugurated, the land parcels have been lying unused and the open spaces are yet to be transformed into usable amenities. In August 2025, the BMC appointed Reliance Infrastructure Limited (RIL), which is set to spend a whopping Rs 400 crore for the landscaping and maintenance work of the open space under its corporate and social responsibility (CSR), in an agreement for 30 years.

Green space

According to civic officials, the BMC is set to create a bird trail adjoining the available space near the Bhulabhai Desai road exit. The trail will be a lush green space spread over two sides of the roads. These trails will also comprise indigenous trees that are known to attract birds during their nesting season.

Adjacent to the Amarson’s Garden interchange of the coastal road, the civic body plans an amphitheatre alongside a nature trail largely comprising palm trees. Stretches of micro-forests are also planned by planting Miwayaki trees.

At the Haji Ali, which has the largest vehicular interchange of coastal roads, a pickle ball court will come up. Going ahead, the entire stretch between Worli and Mahalaxmi is set to have confluence gardens and woods. The BMC is also set to transform a defunct jetty at Worli into a permanent helipad.

According to officials, the final draft of the design template has been submitted to a BMC committee headed by the deputy municipal commissioner (Gardens). Once the design is approved, work will begin with officials saying it would take three years to finish the work.

‘No exploitation’

During the presentation, Gagrani said that the existing open space will not be exploited for any commercial purpose by the administration. “At present, Mumbai is going through an unprecedented series of transformations, therefore it is of utmost importance that the land, which is not being used for transportation should be used for public amenities. The entire 70 hectares stretch of open space is being converted to a large public green space which will make do for the diminishing green cover of Mumbai,” Gagrani said.

“Before securing permission for the coastal road, the BMC had given an affidavit to the Supreme Court stating that the land being reclaimed will not be used for any kind of commercial exploitation. Therefore, this space will remain open and accessible for free to the public,” he added.

Mahalaxmi race course

The municipal commissioner also said that the Mahalaxmi Race Course — a larger portion of which has been taken over by the BMC — will be converted into a botanical garden along with a sports arena and convention centre. The race course spreads over 211 acres, out of which 120 acres have been taken over by the BMC, while 90 acres continue to stay with the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC), which owns the race course. A portion of the 120 acre with the BMC will be converted into a botanical garden, while the remaining portion will be converted into a topiary garden and a city forest.

“The portion of the land comprising racing tracks, and grandstand will continue to stay with RWITC since these are heritage structures. The remaining larger portion of the land is owned by BMC and will be developed for creating amenities to the public in order to boost up public space,” Gagrani said.

Underneath the race course garden, a sporting facility and convention centre are planned. The BMC has also proposed construction of an array of underground tunnels around the periphery of the entire Mahalaxmi Race Course. These tunnels will allow pedestrians direct connectivity from the Nehru Centre, and Acharya Atre Chowk metro stations.

“These tunnels will provide direct access to the citizens from the Metro stations to the botanical garden and the underground conventional centres. Another tunnel will also be created that will connect the race course with the coastal road’s open space at Haji Ali garden — providing a continuous stretch of green space,” civic officials said.