Cost of SoBo gallery wall repair equals building construction cost

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has undertaken repairs to fix the cracked retaining wall of the newly constructed cliff-side viewing gallery at Malabar Hill. The civic body will spend ₹8 crore on the work, the amount spent on constructing the building.

HT Image

While the gallery building was inaugurated by the civic body in October 2018, it has no record of when the retaining wall was built.

According to the BMC, the retaining wall is made with stone masonry (old method of construction) and is therefore unable to support the cliff-side viewing gallery building.

It was constructed 40 or 45 years ago, to hold the weight of the smaller cafe that existed on the plot, officials from civic body said.

This has raised questions if the soil and rock composition atop the cliff and the retaining wall’s stability was checked with due diligence, considering the gallery building was constructed a little over one year ago.

Ravi Raja, leader of the Opposition in BMC, said, “Did the administration not know at the time of constructing the viewing gallery that the wall is old? When the work was being done one year ago, the BMC should have done its homework. We would not have to spend so much money to reinstate the old wall now.”

Municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi told HT, “I will check this matter urgently.”

Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday that the viewing gallery at Malabar Hill had developed a crack at the rear staircase of the building, and repair work to the adjoining retaining wall was going on.

While BMC officers did not comment, workers at the site had told HT on Tuesday that this was a result of the slant in the retaining wall, due to which top soil of the rear garden where the staircase rests was shifting downward.

On Wednesday, a senior civic officer of the department concerned clarified, “The cracks to the viewing gallery building are superficial, caused due to the vibrations from ongoing repair work on the retaining wall. The structure of the building is safe and stable. The retaining wall has developed a crack, so needs to be repaired as a precautionary measure for future stability of the building.”

He further clarified, “At the time of construction of the viewing gallery, the wall was in good condition. A geo-technical survey of the cliff was done. However, recently, we noticed a crack in the wall. This is a sign that this structure needs additional repair work to support the new building. So work has been taken up to prevent any untoward incident in the future.”