Mumbai’s ambitious coastal road corridor is set to gain a critical safety facility with the city’s civic body preparing to invite tenders for a fire station on reclaimed land at Worli. The decision follows Supreme Court approval, clearing a long-standing hurdle in providing emergency infrastructure along the ₹13,984-crore project.
The upcoming fire station will be located near Poonam Chambers on a 700-square-metre plot. According to civic officials, the facility has been designed with compact efficiency in mind, offering parking bays for three fire tenders and a storage unit for essential firefighting equipment. This move comes after safety concerns escalated with recent fire-related incidents involving vehicles using the new road.
The coastal road stretches 10.58 kilometres, connecting the Princess Street flyover at Marine Drive to the Worli-end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. While the expressway has drastically reduced travel time across South Mumbai since becoming fully operational on 15 August, the absence of a dedicated fire response facility has raised questions on commuter safety. Urban planners and safety experts argue that large infrastructure projects must embed resilience, sustainability, and emergency preparedness into their core planning.
Interestingly, the original plan envisaged two fire stations along the corridor.
However, citizen groups opposed the proposal at Amarsons, citing concerns over reducing open space. As a result, the Worli facility is now the sole approved station. Officials clarified that since the reclaimed land is designated for non-commercial, open-space purposes, legal clearance from the Supreme Court was necessary before construction could proceed.For Mumbai, this development highlights a larger question: how should mega-infrastructure projects balance speed, cost, and sustainability with the imperatives of safety and resilience?
The fire station is not only a civic response to risk but also a reflection of how urban design must adapt to climate-sensitive, eco-friendly, and human-centric frameworks. As Indian cities grow denser and infrastructure expands, embedding safety infrastructure within transport corridors will be critical for equitable and sustainable urban living.Experts note that a fire station on reclaimed land will need to be designed with energy-efficient systems, minimal carbon footprint, and integration of renewable energy sources such as solar power. Such planning ensures that safety infrastructure does not compromise environmental goals but strengthens the case for sustainable city-building.With tenders expected to be invited in the coming weeks, the project will soon test how swiftly the civic body can translate approvals into functional infrastructure. For millions of daily commuters, the upcoming fire station could represent not just a safety measure but also a statement that Mumbai is willing to prioritise lives and resilience alongside its rapid infrastructure ambitions.
Mumbai BMC moves ahead with coastal road project construction tenders
