BMC to take up restoration work of its headquarter building

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will take up comprehensive restoration of its headquarter building at Fort

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will take up comprehensive restoration of its headquarter building at Fort. The work will include fixing the Mangalore roof tiles, checking leakages in turrets and attics, waterproofing the main dome structure, and fixing cracks in the heritage pillars of the building.

The restoration work will include fixing the Mangalore roof tiles, checking leakages in turrets and attics, waterproofing the main dome structure, and fixing cracks in the heritage pillars of the BMC headquarter building. (Hindustan Times)

While restoration work has been undertaken on the headquarters building many times in the past, it was always done in parts. A large-scale restoration project for the heritage building was also taken up 10 years ago on many internal and external parts of the building.

Six months ago, BMC’s heritage department completed a structural audit of the building and had appointed Chetan Raikar, a heritage conservationist, for the task of restoration.

Following the structural audit report, the heritage department had identified certain works for the building ‘suo-moto’ and drafted a comprehensive restoration plan for the building. The cost of the project is estimated to be ₹15 crore.

The BMC building is a two-storey structure. However, above the second floor, as is accessible for staff, officers and visitors from public staircases and elevators, there is an attic level in some parts of the building, that is mainly used for storage or is lying vacant. The Mangalore roof tiles comprise the immediate roof of this attic floor. Over time, gaps and cracks have developed in these roof tiles, leading to rainwater seeping into the attic rooms. Pigeon nets will also be installed on all windows.

A senior civic body official associated with the project said, “We don’t want to do patchwork repairs constantly. We want to do comprehensive restoration work so that we don’t have to worry about it for the next twenty five years.”