Soon, you may be able to stroll on the creek bank and soak in stunning sights

THANE: Thaneites seeking an evening-out option beyond the usual spots in and around the city can enjoy a stroll on a promenade on the banks of Thane creek at Mumbra Rethibunder. However, this can only happen if Thane collector Ashwini Joshi has her way.
Sources said there were plans to develop the Thane creek coastline on the lines of the seaside promenades at Bandra and Khar.The plan, it is learnt, is in the drawing board stages.
“Developing the coastline will not only promote tourism, but will even help the administration to protect open spaces along the creek from any encroachments in future,” an official attached to the district collector office said on condition of anonymity.
“The biggest hurdles in implementing the beautification plans are the encroachments, which have mushroomed over past couple of years along the coastline. On several occasions, the drive to demolish the illegal structures was planned by the administration. But almost every time the illegal structures were spared from the bulldozers due to political blessings,” the official added.
TOI on Tuesday had reported about illegal structures dotting the coastline along the creek being spared from demolition following intervention of the guardian minister.
Swapnil Patil, a who resides in a complex at Pokhran Road, said, “Despite Thane having several sites that have tremendous potential to promote tourism, the administration has done little to develop them. If the district collector office is mulling makeover of the Thane creek, then it will certainly be appreciated as citizens will have some place for recreation.”
A similar proposal for the beautification of Upvan lake precincts is in the advance stage in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and plans are underway to have a spacious promenade and too restrict vehicular traffic on one side of the road, which will exclusively be for walkers and joggers.
Meanwhile, locals near the coastline of Parsik-Mumbra on Monday staged a protest as the collector office had issued notices to demolish their structures. The locals claimed that they were in the business of sand dredging along coastline for decades and notices issued to their structures were not appropriate. Revenue minister Eknath Khadse has asked the local authorities in Thane to keep on hold action against these structures till the hearing on the issue is completed at his end, it is reliably learnt.
However, the authorities at collector office on Tuesday reiterated that administration has no plans to shield the “unauthorized” structures that have come up along the coastline.
“Structures on the shore of the creek are in violation of environment norms. If locals continue to create hurdles in demolition of these illegal structures, the administration will have no choice but to book violators under the environment protection act,” a mid-rank official attached to the collector office said.