Beach Road project proposals draw flak.

The integrated naval museum complex and underground parking projects proposed on Beach Road have drawn flak from various quarters that include senior architects, environmental activists and resident association.

At a meeting organised to elicit public views on the projects, here on Tuesday, objections poured in as the stakeholders picked holes in the project planning on several counts, alleging that setting up an integrated naval museum including Kursura submarine museum and underground parking was against the policy of decentralised development. If materialised, the projects would make Beach Road more congested, depriving the citizens of the much-needed lungs space.

The stakeholders took strong exception to the repeated attempts to beautify the Beach Road. They wanted that the projects be shifted to the other parts of the city excluding the RK Beach-Park Hotel stretch.

The objections came pouring after a presentation on the salient features on beachfront development made by Harsh Goel of INI Design Studio and Srinivasa Murthy of SMG Designs Inc. on the integrated naval museum and underground parking projects.

Many stakeholders felt that the underground design was faulty. “In the last three years, we have seen that Beach Road, especially the area where the project is proposed, has caved in due to beach erosion. And the authorities are yet to come up with a sustainable long-term plan,” said Shabnam Patel, architect and former professor of Andhra University.

According to the experts, in the 2006 Master Plan, the project area was earmarked as a green belt meant for recreational facility and open space.

“Now, the Master Plan which expires in 2021 is being altered. The Beach Road is already heavily encroached upon. If the project and the ₹600-crore Lulu Group convention centre project materialise, Beach Road will lose its very characater. The lung space and land space will shrink,” said a senior architect.

Citing CRZ norms, environmentalist Sohan Hatangadi said that the project might pose a threat to ecology. “The proposed project area fall in the CRZ-II Zone. As per UNEP prediction, the sea will rise by 1 m in the next 50 years. Already, cyclonic storms raise the water level by 3 to 4 metres. In such a scenario, the underground project is not advisable,” he said.

Moreover, the design does not specify fire and crash exit points and the project has to be cleared by the MoEF, he added and opposed the Navy deciding what should come where on Beach Road.

Kirlampudi Residents Welfare Association president Uday Shirname expressed the fear that if the underground parking project would spell troubles for residents as people prefer to park vehicles in front of their houses.

THE HINDU