MUMBAI, Oct. 4 -- Citizens' voices against the 15% ticketing of the proposed 130-acre Coastal Road Gardens, planned as a waterfront public open space along seven km of Mumbai's Coastal Road between Priyadarshini Park and Worli, are growing. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), which is developing the gardens through a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative of Reliance Foundation, has submitted a final master plan to the BMC, with a ticketed component of 15% after the Supreme Court on June 11, capped the "recreational activities/ticketed access control" at that percentage. As HT reported on September 29, the Mumbai Coastal Forest, a citizen initiative, first opposed the project in separate letters to Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. NAGAR (NGO Alliance for Governance and Renewal), in a letter to municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide on September 22, has also opposed the monetisation. "It is a bad precedent to have ticketed areas in public open spaces. The Coastal Road Garden is a public open space and must be open to all citizens equally and at all times," said Nayana Kathpalia, trustee of NAGAR. NAGAR, along with the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI), has argued that all six zones of the garden should be designed as universally accessible spaces. It cited Cross Maidan as an example of a public space that supports everyday recreation as well as large public events while remaining free of ticketed and commercial activities. NAGAR has asked the municipal commissioner to reverse the decision. Debi Goenka, executive trustee of the Conservation Action Trust, had challenged the Coastal Road project itself before the Bombay high court and won. The BMC subsequently approached the Supreme Court challenging the HC judgment, which matter remains pending, Goenka said. Attempts to reach out to the BMC commissioner were unsuccessful....