Bandra Reclamation Petition Opposes Proposal To Convert Football Ground
An online campaign and petition have been launched to oppose a state government proposal to convert an 8,450-square-metre football ground at Bandra Reclamation into a convention and exhibition centre. The petition, which was launched on Thursday by the We Are Stronger Together Foundation, gathered 1,827 signatures by Friday evening as community members mobilized to protect the local sports facility.
The controversial proposal was recently cleared by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Improvement Committee. In response, local residents and sports enthusiasts initiated the online campaign, titled 'Bandra Needs Playgrounds, Not Convention Centres – Save Bandra Reclamation Football Ground', to demand the immediate withdrawal of the decision.
Addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the petition urges the state government to retain the existing playground and sports reservation. It also calls for upgrading the ground with modern sports infrastructure, identifying an alternative location for the proposed convention and exhibition centre, and protecting Mumbai's shrinking recreational open spaces from commercial conversion.
Furkan Shaikh, founder of the We Are Stronger Together Foundation and the lead petitioner, stated that the Bandra Reclamation football ground serves as an irreplaceable public sports facility for local youth and athletes. Shaikh argued that while convention centres can be constructed in other locations, sacrificing one of the area's few remaining open spaces would set a dangerous precedent for the city's recreational land.
Opposition to the project also came from Shiv Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray, who criticized the BJP-led BMC in a social media post. Thackeray accused the administration of altering the reservation of the Neville D'Souza Football Ground to favour contractors, warning that the move would rob local youth of a vital playing field and worsen traffic congestion in the Bandra Reclamation neighborhood.
In response to the growing criticism, the BMC defended its decision. Civic officials stated that the plot was originally reserved for an Exhibition Centre under the 1983 Development Plan. According to the BMC, the land was only redesignated as a Sports Ground during the preparation of the Development Plan 2034 because it was vacant and being used for football at the time. Officials maintained that the new proposal simply restores the original reservation planned for the site.
