Work on the proposed robotic parking tower near Mumbai’s Mumbadevi temple has remained suspended since mid-2024, with the delay now escalating into a legal dispute between the contractor and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The project was halted after a stop-work order was issued over concerns that the structure could impact the heritage character and visual prominence of the historic temple.
The planned facility was designed as a 17-storey robotic parking tower capable of accommodating around 600 vehicles. With an estimated cost of Rs 122 crore, the project was intended to ease chronic parking shortages in one of South Mumbai’s most congested commercial and religious zones. However, construction has not resumed despite repeated follow-ups by the civic body, leading to prolonged delays and rising costs.
In the past week, the appointed contractor, M/s SMS Limited, served a legal notice on the BMC, invoking the arbitration clause in the contract and seeking damages of Rs 55 crore. The firm has argued that the suspension of work was unjustified and carried out without adequate reasoning, resulting in significant financial and operational losses. According to the contractor, costs continue to mount during the prolonged halt, prompting a demand for swift resolution through arbitration.
BMC officials have said they had already communicated to the state government that no irregularities were found in the project’s approvals and cautioned that further delays would only escalate costs. However, they added that the civic body has yet to receive any directive from the government to allow work to resume.
Meanwhile, traders and business associations in the Mumbadevi area have repeatedly appealed to the BMC to restart construction, citing the acute need for organised parking to support local commerce and manage visitor inflows.
Earlier, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar had raised objections to the project, warning that the height of the 17-storey structure could affect the temple’s visibility and interfere with devotional practices. He had suggested that any financial liability arising from the stoppage should be recovered from officials who approved the project without sufficient local consultation.
The dispute highlights the broader challenges facing Mumbai’s urban infrastructure initiatives, particularly multilevel and robotic parking projects that often encounter regulatory, legal and public resistance. If the contractor’s claim succeeds, the financial impact on the BMC could shape future policy and approval processes for similar developments.
Source: Prop News Time
