Reservoir is not dilapidated, reiterates expert committee after Inspection Round 2

A few of the experts found three compartments to be visually in “good condition” without any major visible distress. The first two compartments, 2A and 2B examined on December 7 were also reportedly in good condition

Mumbai: The second inspection round of the 137-year-old Malabar Hill reservoir was conducted by the seven-member expert committee on Monday to check its structural stability and the extent of its allegedly “dilapidated condition”. Major parts of South Mumbai, including parts of G North ward, had to endure a 10 percent water cut when the tank was emptied for the inspection.

The second inspection round of the 137-year-old Malabar Hill reservoir was conducted by the seven-member expert committee on Monday. (Hindustan Times)

A few of the experts found three compartments to be visually in “good condition” without any major visible distress. The first two compartments, 2A and 2B examined on December 7 were also reportedly in good condition. However, while the reservoir seems to be in good condition visually, what remains to be seen is if the final report contradicts the 2017 report which had declared it dilapidated.

“We had a good visit,” said Alpa Sheth, one of the experts. “We were in waist-deep water for 1.5 hours and inspected the tank in minute detail.” Sheth said that most of the tanks were in brick masonry, and very few in stone masonry and cement concrete. “Nothing in that is in distress,” she said. “Some roots that have come in that need to be trimmed, a functional requirement. But there is absolutely no structural requirement.”

Sheth said that some reinforced concrete work had been done at a later stage in Tank 1C. “Reinforced concrete has its own problems so the steel shows some corrosion,” she said. “It needs to be attended to but it is eminently repairable.”

Sheth also emphasised that the brick masonry work done during the British era could not be replicated in present times, as masons were not trained for it. “The expert committee may require some more meetings to reach a final decision and give the most workable solution,” she said.

Architect Rahul Kadri, another expert, said, “Tank 1A, the largest tank which is in brick arches, is in amazingly good condition. There is minor leakage from the garden, which we felt could be dealt with from the outside. The second tank 1B, which was built later in plain concrete, is in amazing shape and has minor leakages from the joints, which can be dealt with. The last tank, 1C, is an RCC one, and the steel is corroded. The first two tanks require minor repairs, as they are in good condition. The third one requires some repairs, but it isn’t alarming or dilapidated.”

It is pertinent to note that in 2017, D D Kulkarni, a private structural consultant appointed by the BMC, had submitted a report that the reservoir was in a dilapidated condition.

HT on November 7 had reported on the BMC constituting a seven-member committee to submit a report on various feasibility aspects involved in the Malabar Hill reservoir reconstruction project. The panel includes four professors from IIT-Bombay—Alok Goyal, R S Jangid, Jothi Prakash and Dasaka Murthy—architect Rahul Kadri, civil engineers Dr Vasudev Noori and A Seth, and deputy municipal commissioner (special engineering) C H Kandalkar.

The scope of the new committee is to find out if the existing reservoir can be repaired without constructing an alternative tank and without affecting the water supply to citizens. It will also explore whether phase-wise reconstruction is feasible.