After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) plan to start the “Mumbai Art and Craft Centre” at Worli failed to take off, the civic body has scrapped the project. The BMC has now proposed to take over the land allotted for the centre for a waste water treatment facility (WWTF) at Love Grove pumping station at Worli. A proposal to take back the land will be tabled at the Improvements Committee meeting on Tuesday for final approval. According to civic officials, in 2006, around 2,100 sqm of the land, inside Love Grove pumping station at Worli, was reserved for the Art and Craft Centre on the lines of Dilli Haat in the capital. The idea was to give artisans across Maharashtra a platform to showcase their creations. According to the proposal, the BMC had constructed two buildings, over 2,686 sqm by spending Rs 4.9 crore, for the centre. In 2012, the Bombay Chambers of Commerce and Industries (BCCI) and the BMC were supposed to set up a trust for operating the centre. But there was no progress. A senior official from the sewerage operation department, BMC, said: “Following the failure of the project, now, we have proposed to take back the land (from the trust) and scrap the Mumbai Art and Craft Centre. At the same time, the BMC needs land for the proposed WWTF plant at Lover Grove Complex. So, it will be beneficial for that project.” The proposal was in the cold storage for nearly six years after the BMC and the BCCI failed to come up with an agreement regarding appointment of members in the proposed trust that was supposed to manage Art and Craft Centre. Later, neither the BMC nor the BCCI took any initiative to resolve the issue, said an official. The centre was supposed to have galleries, artisan stalls, an amphitheatre, a craft production and display centre, a dormitory and walkways.

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