Mumbai, Oct. 20 -- Two months after the inauguration of the Coastal Road promenade on August 15, the 5-kilometre stretch has become a popular jaunt for Mumbaikars. Different sets of people flock the stretch in the mornings and evenings - to exercise, cycle, walk their pets, hang out with friends, take photos, or simply gaze at the sea in silence, interrupted only by the hum of passing cars and cackling children. Most visitors to the promenade, however, seem to be from affluent backgrounds. When HT visited the area on Saturday evening, the crowd was thinner than usual due to Diwali festivities, and there were hardly any visitors from poor backgrounds, barring construction labourers working in the vicinity. "The promenade is a great space for casual and leisure cyclists. It has become a pitstop on our early morning cycle rides," Vijay Malhotra, who runs the 'Pedal and Tring Tring' blog, told HT. Groups of yoga and running enthusiasts comprise the other notable visitors in the mornings. "It feels like you are in the city and out of it at the same time," said Shraddha Gupta, owner of a yoga studio who visited the promenade recently with a group of yoga enthusiasts, travelling all the way from Navi Mumbai to Worli. "We got to walk along the sea while feeling the breeze. We will be doing it again soon," she said. "Cycling between the sea and skyline = pure magic," wrote @bbuzzz08 on Instagram. "I honestly got so emotional experiencing this because the way Bombay looks from here just feels sooo good (sic)." The evenings see more casual visitors, encompassing couples and youngsters chatting and watching the sunset, people walking their pets, children playing among themselves and those conducting photoshoots. "Me and my dad are regular visitors here, as it is wide and not too crowded," said Harith Mehta, who was walking alongside his 98-year-old father on a wheelchair. The father and son duo would rarely visit the Worli sea face earlier as it was narrow and very crowded, he said. "The crowd isn't that much, so it's nice," said Maria Siddiqui, who was walking her grey Persian cat along the promenade. "She has some space to move around without getting too scared." The entire coastal road promenade, from Priyadarshini Park to Worli, spans 7.5 km, of which only 5 km was opened to the public on August 15. Even this 5-km stretch is broken into two parts, separated by ongoing work on the Haji Ali car park. "Effectively, the promenade is now broken into two separate 2.5-km stretches," said Malhotra. "This comes in the way of enjoying a long ride along the sea." Mehta, who was visiting with his father, said disability access was patchy. "The pedestrian underpass has ramps, but to get to it, you need to climb a few steps," he told HT. "Even the curve near the bus stop doesn't have a ramp and the lift in the car park does not work." The majority of visitors were people living in nearby areas, with most relying on private transport to get there. Mehta, for instance, lives on Carmicheal Road and had brought along his car, whereas Siddiqui, who was visiting with her cat, had come on a bike from south Bombay. Fiona D'Souza, a resident of Lower Parel, had come with her parents in a taxi, whereas Meet and Riddhi Chedda had come with their six-year-old son from Dadar East on a scooter. "It has become a struggle to come here since the closure of the Elphinstone bridge. Even today, it took us 30 minutes to get here," the Cheddas said. "We can come here more regularly once the bridge is back up and running." Even early morning runners who visit the promenade from various parts of the city in the mornings rely on carpooling, said Jiten Gandhi from The RunBay Club. For most visitors, private vehicles were the only way they could get to the promenade, as it was located at least 2-4 kilometres away from railway stations on the Western line, and public transport between stations and the promenade was not regular, they said. For instance, Borivali resident Ashish Savan, 45, who was hanging out on the promenade with his colleagues, said, "Since we had work in Worli today, we came here to rest a while. It is hard to say if we would have come here otherwise."...