Breach Candy residents gear up to revive the Coastal Road-destroyed Tata Garden

Hindustan Times

10-06-2025

MUMBAI: The Tata Garden at Breach Candy was once a long stretch of garden over 8,000 square metres bordering the Arabian Sea, lush, green and perfect for morning walks. Hacked by the Coastal Road interchange, and with the sea snatched away, today it is half its original size in three fractured pieces. But residents of Breach Candy, who have set their sights on restoring it, are not deterred.
As the boundary fence of Tata Garden nears completion, marking a clear distinction between the neighbourhood garden and the Coastal Road's reclaimed space looming ahead, the Breach Candy Residents Forum (BCRF) is gearing up to jumpstart the garden's revival. As an initial step, on World Environment Day last Thursday, members planted 50 large coconut tree saplings in the enclosure.
'Despite the tree plantation drive being at 7.30 am, many residents showed up and got their hands dirty in planting,' said Nigum Lakhani, a BCRF member. 'We've requested them to keep coming back and make it a point to see that the trees survive.'
Lakhani remembers the garden as idyllic. 'When Tata Power adopted it a few decades ago, the land had nothing,' he said. 'They whipped it into shape, and were doing a great job of maintaining it. There was a circular walking track amid the trees and lawns, where quite a few Bollywood songs were shot.'
Rupen Doshi, another resident at the tree plantation, remembered the mud walking path, flanked by trees on one side and manicured lawns on the other. 'The sea would splash against the rocks at high tide,' he said. 'There were the loyal morning and evening walkers. In the evenings, mothers would bring their young children to the play area, which had a makeshift tree house. It was a popular place.'
The garden now lies cleaved into three parts. The centre portion, which is the largest, is around 3,300 square metres, while the two smaller portions at either end are 510 square metres and 200 square metres. Doshi decried the poor condition the garden was in currently, with only a few stray shrubs and tree stumps. 'Portions of it have been overrun by debris and construction material,' he said. Lakhani described the two smaller side gardens as being in worse condition, with the old fences dumped there, wild trees growing haphazardly and children's play equipment rusted and broken.
In 2018, work on the Coastal Road claimed the garden, taking it away from the sponsorship of Tata Power for the interchange. Despite efforts to change the layout and protect the trees with a PIL, the road went through. According to the answer received to an RTI query, this left the garden with only 177 of the 316 trees it had originally.
'Now that the work on the Coastal Road is done, the BCRF is on the hunt for sponsors to restore the former glory of the garden and maintain it,' said Nandini Chabria, a core BRCF member. Lakhani too said he had approached the Tata Group again, requesting it to adopt the garden once more.
An official from the D ward garden department said the BMC would be happy if the residents were able to get a sponsor for the garden. 'We can hand it over under our 11-month caretaker policy,' he said. 'The garden requires ₹2 crore to 3 crore to be spruced up, which we don't have. There is a gardener who tends to the central garden, but that's about all. Most of the fencing work around the garden is done, so it's the perfect time for someone to swoop in with funds.'