India, Aug. 20 -- The reimagining of Mumbai has come at a cost of its civic infra - since 2023, 12 plots originally marked for parks, playgrounds and recreation grounds have been diverted for utilities and alternate developments, putting pressure on the city's already scarce stock of public open spaces, while three others are on the precipice of similar changes, having been placed before the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) Improvements Committee's since June.

Seven proposals were tabled just four months after the BJP-led Mahayuti promised to protect the city's open spaces from private interests ahead of the civic body elections in 2026 - some of them pushed by BJP legislators Ameet Satam and Mihir Kotecha, putting to test the ...