CHURCHGATE REVIVAL

A proposal for Urban Management
“Churchgate Revival” is available for reference and purchase at UDRI Resource Centre.

PREFACE

Churchgate, the area around the southern terminus of western Railway’s suburban services, is a key city hub. Two million people arrive here every work day morning from the suburbs of this linear city and two million go home in the evening. These daily migrations have a critical impact on the area.
Piecemeal solutions and neglect have combined to degrade a noble precinct and cause growing dysfunctionality for commuter and resident alike. The visible aspects are lack of hygiene, littering, unnecessary crowding, twice-a-day traffic snarls, to say nothing of the exploitation by unscrupulous elements through encroachment of streets and pavements.
The Project began as a modest clean-up of Churchgate by residents’ associations. Assisted by Bombay First and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), they organised a second cleaning of the area after the municipal sweep in the morning. Dustbins were installed and educational material was prepared underlining the need for cleanliness and hygiene. The challenge of dealing with hawkers, a key element of the problem, was tackled locally and then became a citywide movement.
It was soon clear that Churchgate could not be addressed just as a clean-up operation. A more ambitious revival of the precinct was necessary if the right forces, resources and ideas were to be mobilized. The subject needed to be treated holistically. The task involved citywide issues that needed to be taken into account before micro-level improvements were evolved.
The task is challenging but the rewards are great – nothing less than a Churchgate revived, a precinct of which the city was always meant to be proud.