Over 100 residents gathered at Malabar Hill’s Kamala Nehru Park on Sunday morning to voice their objections against the BMC’s proposal to build a road cutting through the garden.They raised doubts over claims that the one-way road would ease traffic congestion without affecting the area’s beauty and environment, and wondered whether officials had conducted any comprehensive study before drawing up the plan. The proposed 535-metre road will eat up 2,540.55 square metres of the garden. More than 70 trees will have to be cut.“Only five per cent of residents of the area use cars. Most of the residents walk or travel by bus. This park is an oxygen factory. It also plays an important role in the physical development of children. Are we willing to sacrifice all this to save just 15 minutes of traffic wait time?” asked eminent architect Rahul Kadri of the Napean Sea Road Citizens’ Forum.The civic body has proposed to convert the Chiranji Lolyalka Marg, also known as Siri Road Hilly Walkway, into the one-way road. Pedestrians have been using the marg to walk to the main road from the park for several years.“Instead of easing traffic movement, cars using Siri Road will create a bottleneck at Tambe Chowk, and traffic will pile up at Walkeshwar Road and Ridge Road as they are not being widened,” said Indrani Malkani, founder-secretary of the Advanced Locality Management of Little Gibbs Roads 1, 2 and 3.Malkani has posed tough questions to a BMC committee exploring the possibility of the road. Two years ago, rock climbing was proposed at the park, but the BMC rejected it after citing an IIT report, which said that any such activity could put additional stress on the hill, making it vulnerable to landslides. “If this hill cannot withstand the weight of a few humans, how will it withstand the weight of a road?” Malkani asked.Kadri also questioned the project’s feasibility. “Going by the plans provided by the BMC, the proposed road seems unfeasible and unsafe. Technically for a slope of 1 metre, you need to build a minimum of 12 metres of road. You cannot build such a short road, it will be too steep for cars,” Kadri said Niranjan Shetty, a member of the tree authority committee, said he was also against the project.South Mumbai MP Arvind Sawant and corporator Anil Singh were among the political leaders who attended the meeting. They faced grilling from residents.Sawant sought to assure the residents that no project would be executed without public consensus.“When I worked in the telecom department, I used to walk through this road. I have many fond memories attached to it,” he said at the meeting. “I will definitely take up this matter with the municipal commissioner. I can assure you that the park will remain intact. If anyone wants to chop off a tree, they will have to saw my neck first.”Local resident Mona Shah expected more from Sunday’s meeting. “Everyone was very passionate about the issue. But nobody said what could be the next step,” she said. Mehul Mehta said no alternatives were put forward. “I am all for protecting the environment. But traffic is a major problem in the area. It takes me 45 minutes to go down from the park to Siri Road,” he said.