Contractor, supervisor, excavator operator booked for damaging Banganga steps

BMC contractor damages heritage steps at Banganga Tank, case registered against contractor, supervisor, and excavator operator; repairs ordered

MUMBAI: A day after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) found itself in hot water after it came to light that a contractor had run an excavator machine over the 11th century Banganga Tank’s steps, the Malabar Hill police registered a case against the contractor, whose task was to desilt the tank, the supervisor and the JCB operator who took the vehicle close to the steps damaging it.

The damaged stairs of Banganga Tank. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The case was registered following a complaint by Manoj Jejurkar, assistant engineer, D Ward. In its complaint BMC held all three guilty of neglect, underlining that the excavator was taken to the fragile area from the southward side of Pimleshwar Chowk without permission.

“We have registered the case against Ram Savani of Savani Heritage Conservation Private Limited, his supervisor Dharmendra Kumar and the driver of the JCB [excavator],” said a police officer from the Malabar Hill police station.

Banganga Tank in Walkeshwar, a Grade-1 heritage structure, is owned by the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Temple Trust and maintained by the state archaeology department. Work on restoration of the steps is underway. Desilting of the tank takes place every monsoon using smaller machines. However, this year the contractor brought an earthmover, as he wanted to reach the middle of the tank. HT was the first to report about the incident, in a story titled ‘Banganga’s heritage steps damaged’ on Tuesday.

The offences have been registered under sections 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code and under sections 8(1)(a) (No person shall act which causes damage or injury to any part of the monument) and section 9 (failure or refusal to enter into an agreement) of the Maharashtra Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1960.

On the other hand, on Tuesday, politicians were quick to react to the destructive act. After inspecting the damaged site, guardian minister MP Lodha said, “I visited the spot with BMC officials and police, after which I ordered that the contractor be blacklisted. I have directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and officials at BMC to start the repairs immediately. It will be completed in 72 hours,” Lodha tweeted on X, adding that he had instructed that a local committee be formed to oversee the future work. “The committee will submit its report in the next 15 days,” he said.

Milind Deora from Shiv Sena tweeted: “Glad to see the GSB Temple Trust and @ASIGoI are taking action against those responsible for the Banganga mishap. They have my full support. @mybmc has been plundered as an ATM for almost three decades. Under @mieknathshindeJi, we will not tolerate BMC’s misgovernance.”

The opposition also expressed its displeasure over the incident. Newly elected Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad tweeted: “Banganga is mentioned in the epic Ramayana. It is said that it was here on the banks of the Banganga that Lord Rama made an idol of Lord Shankara out of sand and worshiped it. Today, due to the criminal negligence of BMC and the contractors, the steps leading to the Banganga are badly eroded, destroyed. This is very sad.” She added that many people come to the steps to pay their last respects to deceased in the family and perform the last rites during Pitrupoja.

Gaikwad also questioned why precautions were not taken before desilting, which is an annual exercise, and blamed BMC for not investigating the contractor before commissioning the work. “This is criminal negligence, which has destroyed the heritage architecture of our city,” she said. “BMC administrator Bhushan Gagrani should answer and chief minister Eknath Shinde should take responsibility.”