Carter Road Promenade

Situated across Bandra and Khar, the Carter Road Promenade is a 1.25 kilometre-long walkway along the sea on the western coast of Mumbai, India.[1] Almost 2 decades old, this promenade was opened up to the public in January 2002.[2] It is simultaneously a popular hangout spot with a jogging track along a park for children and dogs. The promenade has been managed by the Bandra West Residents' Association.[2] The Carter Road Promenade extends up to Khar Danda.

Panoramic view of Carter Road

In May 2008, Carter Road was renamed as Sangeet Samrat Naushad Ali Marg, in the memory of Naushad Ali, the veteran music director from the Hindi film industry.[3]

Geography

Carter Road has a sea-facing location, with highly priced residential properties, connecting Khar Danda in the north with Turner Road, Bandra in the south. The promenade is located along the Arabian sea on the west-coast of Bandra and Khar, and is amongst Mumbai's most coveted neighbourhoods. The walkway is 4,800 feet long with a small chess-board ground, a large gazebo, a vermicompost bed and solar and wind energy. The walkway was redeveloped in 2008 as part of the larger movement in the city of Mumbai to reclaim public spaces and to protect Mumbai’s coastline. The open-air Amphitheatre is one of the most identifiable features of this promenade. The two ends of Carter Road bear Mumbai Postal PIN Codes 400050 (Bandra end) and 400052 (Khar end). The whole Bandra-Khar Residential Zone falls within the H-West ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Culture and activities

The promenade has become a center for acoustic music performances, both rehearsed cover songs and drum circle jams, with audience participation. Other activities include free yoga/aerobics classes, Brazilian martial arts and dancing /music (capoeira) demonstrations, poetry readings and many other impromptu events, all open to public participation. These events happen amidst the endless stream of strollers and joggers. Many benches offer repose to usually older citizens or lovers; in addition the rock tidepools are also colonized by lovers silhouetted against the sun setting in the Arabian Sea. There are also some small children's slides and swings. At the Khar end, opposite a giant cricket-bat memorial dedicated to legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, the Union Park road slips down Pali Hill. Here, one finds the corner outlet of a popular Cafe chain Cafe Coffee Day, which is one of the most desired hangouts for youngsters to unwind and catch up before or after their seaside stroll. Further down this lane is a range of premium world-cuisine restaurants and cafés, including the likes of Olive and Out Of The Blue.

Recent history

Carter Road was named after Carter Perry, a suburban collector during the British Raj. In the 1970s, it was an quiet and idyllic road curving by the sea, fringed on one side by mangroves and old villas with palm trees on the other. Once a baby baleen whale washed up on the shore, attracting onlookers who would collect the melting blubber in bottles as a cure for rheumatism, until it was cut up into pieces by the Bombay Municipal Corporation for disposal.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the mangroves became an open toilet for the hordes of recent arrivals to Bombay. The late 1990s saw the mangroves festooned with multicolored plastic bags that ended up in the sea, washed out from land, and returned via the high tide, snagged on branches. In 1997, a chinese vessel Zheng Dong hit the coast off Carter Road while battling rough seas. Many entrepreneur's then wanted to convert the vessel into a fine-dine sea restaurant,but after numerous protest by the residents of Khar Danda & Carter Road the idea was pulled down. The vessel was finally cleared in 2010. In the 2000s, the entire promenade was revived, re-tiled, and cleaned and trees were planted.


References
  1. http://www.pkdas.com/carter-road-seafront-bandra-project-72-3-46.php
  2. Baliga, Linah (16 March 2012). "Mumbai for Me: Bandra's 'democratic' sea-fronts are cosmopolitan". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  3. "Carter Rd becomes history, now Naushad Ali Rd". DNA. 5 May 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2019.

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