Mumbai: Residents want Nana Chowk skywalk dismantled, relocated

Recently, seven residents from the Nana Chowk area, met Shiv Sena MP for Mumbai South, Arvind Sawant at his SoBo office to press for demolition of the Nana Chowk skywalk, which they label as a “monstrosity”. They spoke to him for half an hour, about a slew of problems which have been reported in the past, from peeping Toms on the skywalk, to filthy surroundings, vagabonds and drunks on the infrastructure, to amorous couples getting it on, on the mostly deserted skywalk, once night falls.

Sawant said, “The residents met me on the weekend, and after hearing them, I also think that the skywalk should be removed. It is being completely misused and there are obscene things going on, on the skywalk. It needs to be dismantled and can be shifted to a location where it is needed. The idea of constructing a skywalk here was pure nonsense. Now, instead of wasting money on the electricity (you need lights on the skywalk) it may be time to cut losses and take it elsewhere.” When asked if dismantling it was practical, Sawant said, “Yes, only the pillars will remain and those can be demolished. The other material will be used elsewhere.”

Residents from Ishwardas building, next to the skywalk, came together with residents from the New BMC building, also diagonally opposite Ishwardas, and the landmark Ness Baug, which is the latest entrant in the fight against the skywalk. Three buildings put down their problems in writing.

The New BMC building letter dated April 29, states, “The escalators even when functional are of no use to disabled people, parents with toddlers or senior citizens, considering one has to climb half a floor to get to it…” Claiming it has, “nuisance value” the residents pressed for its “absolute removal.” Ness Baug is the most fiery, when asking for the demolition of the skywalk. Ness Baug president F A Poncha, in his letter dated April 29 to Arvind Sawant, and representing the Parsi colony writes, “This monstrosity should never have been erected in the first place and ends, “We would submit that constructing this skywalk has emanated from greed, arrogance, ego and incompetence. It is necessary for good sense to prevail and instead of allowing a grave mistake to continue forever, the skywalk should be demolished and the salvage sold off.”

Published on Mid-Day