Uma Adusumalli, chief town planner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and a committee member of the EIS, said two consultants have been finalised. “Initially, we are aiming to list the assets in Greater Mumbai, within one-and-a-half years. Later, we can extend the exercise to the entire Mumbai metropolitan region.” The region includes the entire stretch from Mumbai to Virar, Alibaug, Khopoli, Kalyan and Bhiwandi.

The MMR-EIS is an independent body supported by the MMRDA. According to Prasad Shetty, an environmental planner and a member of the EIS, the planned inventory will list open spaces included in the 1991-2011 Development Plan (recreational grounds, playgrounds and parks); water bodies (lakes and ponds); water courses (rivers and natural nullahs); coastline features (like mudflats, rocky beaches, sandy beaches, etc) and large urban green areas (national parks, IIT campus, Byculla zoo, Aarey Milk Colony, etc).

The process is divided into three parts, starting with a review of all the existing works, a dialogue with all local stakeholders including the municipal corporation and then the creation of a preliminary list. “The second phase is more elaborate—that’s when we will do the conditional assessment of the listed assets, study their characteristics and the threats to them. The third phase will list all critical features that require immediate attention and also identification of possible solutions,” Shetty said.

The contract has been awarded to EPC-DPM, an environmental-planning collaboration from Ahmedabad and Adarkar Associates, a Mumbai-based architecture and planning company. A source in the sub-committee said that over the past few months, as many as 70 bids were received for the the project after advertisements were released in August. MMRDA has made an allotment of Rs 5 crore to the EIS for the project, with the Rs 60 lakh the society earns annually also being channeled into the mapping project.

Meanwhile, nature enthusiast Nayana Kathpalia of Citispace, observed: “The plan sounds good, but in a vast city like Mumbai, it may not be feasible.” Shetty, however, pointed out that at a time when green spaces are becoming a rarity, identifying them is the first step towards ensuring their survival.