A file picture of Juhu Chowpatty

Mumbai, June 29: Mumbai may soon look a little different as one of its landmarks is to undergo an image makeover.

Bombay High Court yesterday ordered the relocation of the 80-odd pav bhaji and kala khatta shops that now make up the Juhu Chowpatty, Mumbai’s most popular Sunday destination that is almost synonymous with the city.

With the high court order, a plan supported by an NGO and citizens’ bodies to clean and beautify the beach, which is like a perpetual fair, has got the final stamp of approval and the clearing has already begun.

The budget is Rs 3 crore. Hema Malini is contributing Rs 2 crore, the whole of her MP’s fund, and former MP Shabana Azmi gave Rs 1 crore during her term. Both are Juhu residents.

“The idea is to clean the beach of various forms of encroachments. There will no construction made in their place,” says P.K. Das, architect of the plan, who is on the monitoring committee appointed by the court.

According to the plan, the beach will get back some of its innocence and quiet. There will be nothing — no neon lights, no giant wheels, no smell of the maska-laden thick bhaji being smashed on the huge iron plates — except perhaps for a few palm fronds coming in between the beacher and the horizon. The plan was drawn up by Das with support from Intach, an NGO that works on culture and heritage, and took seven years to take off.

The food stalls will be relocated soon, though clearing of other encroachments has already begun. “The stalls will be relocated to a planned food court about 75 metres away and will be provided with infrastructure like water connection and sewage,” says Das.

“There are eight accesses to the beach. Encroachments on these lanes have begun to be cleared. We also surveyed other encroachments, like slums or private properties, coming on to the beach, and these have been demolished, including a property of the Rahejas and one owned by a present minister of the state government,” he adds.

There will be small parks with palm trees and two new parking lots that would have space for 600 to 700 cars, added Das.

“This is part of a greater plan to clean up all Mumbai beaches,” said Das. “But this is the first time that all concerned authorities are coming together. Members of the municipality officials, the administration and the police are all part of the monitoring committee.”

The idea was greeted enthusiastically in several quarters in the city, but not by the hawkers who own the pav bhaji stalls. Sharad Rao, president, Bombay Hawkers Union, said there have been several attempts to relocate the hawkers from the beach, but not one was successful.