The BMC has planned to push for underground parking facilities under the decades old public parks namely Pushpa Narsee Park in Juhu and Patwardhan Park in Bandra. This is being done under a current provision in the city's Development Control Regulations. 

Parks are the few remaining open spaces in Mumbai which has one of the poorest open spaces per capita ratios anywhere in the world. These parks serve a multitude of functions - they act as large sponges for rainwater amidst increasing impervious and concrete developments thereby mitigating further flooding risks, they help reduce the CO2 in the air amidst the rapidly declining air quality and they help mitigate the compounding urban heat island effects thereby forming an oasis for people in dense neighbourhoods . 

Creating an impervious concrete slab for an underground parking lot would require the century old rain trees to be cut and compromises the park's ability to perform any of the above functions - thereby rendering it useless.

These proposals will pave the way for similar developments under all the parks in our city - which would be disastrous to say the least. We need to act NOW.