BMC: At Kalanagar, a 'Sister City Square' will be built for Bandra

The BMC plans to build a 'Sister City Square' at Kalanagar, Bandra West, as part of tactical urbanism, to honour its ties with 15 sister cities throughout the world. On Friday, a tender was issued for it. The BMC expects that this project will serve as a tourist destination for both domestic and foreign visitors.

 

Stuttgart, Berlin (Germany), Los Angeles (USA), St. Petersburg (Russia), Yokohama (Japan), Honolulu (Hawaii), New York City, Zagreb (Croatia), Barcelona (Spain), Busan (South Korea), Port of Odessa (Ukraine), Jakarta (Indonesia), Nadi (Fiji), Antananarivo (Madagascar), and Shanghai are among the 15 sisters (China). Through cultural links, commercial expansion, information sharing, and signed memorandums of understanding, Mumbai has maintained positive relationships with them (MoU).

 

The BMC has developed the Sister City Square at Kalanagar intersections, adjacent to a service road to the Mhada building, as part of the partnership. Along with planting and beautifying, the square would contain flags of all the countries having sister cities, according to the plan's concept designs.

 

There will be an information desk for each city as well as a service station for students and tourists visiting from these locations. According to a BMC spokesman, the project will help improve traffic flow at the intersection. Aaditya Thackeray, the state tourist and guardian minister for Mumbai suburbs, came up with the idea for the project. The whole project cost is predicted to be Rs 1.63 crore, and it would take six months to finish. The renovation would be paid for with cash from the district planning committee's traffic island and public space improvement budget.

 

The project, according to Kiran Digghavkar, the assistant municipal commissioner of G-North ward (civic planning department) and also in charge of implementing tactical urbanism, will raise awareness of Mumbai's international ties and serve as a space for strengthening cultural and social ties with international students and citizens. "The aim is to establish a venue where domestic and international travellers can come and visit, spend time, and interact with their peers," he explained.