Dedicate Mumbai coastal road to Lata Didi, urges Mangeshkar family

MUMBAI: On the first death anniversary of the legendary singer, Lata Mangeshkar's family on Monday urged that the upcoming Mumbai Coastal Road Project should be named in her memory.

The plea was gently voiced on behalf of the clan by veteran singer Usha Mangeshkar on the occasion of the foundation stone laying ceremony for Lata Didi's memorial at Haji Ali Chowk.

"We are very pleased that the memorial is coming up here... Its quite close to our home, Prabhu Kunj. The Maharashtra government and the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation are working on it and it will be ready soon. We want it (the road) to be named in memory of Lata Didi," she said.

The proposed 40-feet tall memorial, to be named 'Swarancha Kalpvriksha' (Melodious Tree) will be constructed through Tourism Minister M.P. Lodha from his MLA funds with contribution from the BMC, and is expected to be completed in the next six months.

Immortalising Lata Didi, her voice and songs, her music will be played at the memorial venue on important days for the public. Usha Mangeshkar added that this is the first time such a mega-project is taken up in Mumbai, coming up just beside the Mangeshkars' ancestral home and hence the family is desirous that it should be named after Lata Didi.

The foundation stone laying ceremony was attended by Lodha, the entire Mangeshkar clan of Usha, Asha, Meena, Hridaynath, Adinath and others, Bollywood personalities like Shivaji Satam, Sudesh Bhosale, Nitin Mukesh and more.

The most prestigious project of the BMC, the Mumbai Coastal Road is coming up at a quick pace with the 10-km-long first phase in south Mumbai expected to be ready by December 2023.

Slated to cost around Rs 13,000 crore, the first phase comprises twin tunnels of 2.07 km running under the Malabar Hill, linking Girgaum Chowpatty Beach with Priyadarshini Park at the northern end.