Mumbai streets set to don designer look

In a bid to give the city an international look, the BMC has appointed seven organisations with expertise in street furniture to beautify the roads in its seven zones. The makeover, which will start mid-2010, will include installation of street furniture, area maps, names of chowks, overhead signboards with information on various destinations, safety railings and public toilets. Each of the international companies has formed a joint venture with an Indian firm and has been assigned the job for the next 20 years. Hoardings and bus stops, however, will not be part of the project. Last year, the BMC invited expressions of interest (EoI)s from global companies. From the list, a committee chose seven firms on the basis of experience and designs they have executed in other cities. The civic body, however, did not invite tenders. Explaining the long duration of the contract, municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak said installing quality street furniture will involve a huge investment. “Unless we allow such a time period, no international company would have wanted to invest. It is the same criteria that is applied for open spaces given out on adoption and caretaker basis. In the latter case, the investment is high and therefore the open space is given out for 30 years. The companies will be responsible for the maintenance of the street furniture,’’ Phatak said. He added that the BMC would follow the model popular in western Europe particularly in France and Germany. The companies will submit their plans over the next three months, which will be vetted by the same committee that had short-listed them. The panel comprises additional municipal commissioner R A Rajeev, the incharge of roads as chairman, conservation architects Vrinda Somaiya and Abha Narain Lambah and the BMC traffic wing. Rajeev said the aim was to have well-laid and user friendly roads that are properly networked and clean. “While there will be diverse street furniture, we will ensure that the road direction boards are uniform across the city,’’ Rajeev added.