The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s Garden Infrastructure Cell (GIC) has decided to take up the beautification work of the garden adjoining the Bandra Fort.
With this, the civic body’s ambitious project to restore this four-acre plot gets a nod after nearly two decades.
This decision was taken after witnessing mud and stones often roll down from the steep slope on the walkway, thus posing a threat to the people visiting there during monsoon, reports stated.
As a part of its new development plan, the BMC aims to transform this garden into a history and culture plaza. At present there is an amphitheatre inside the garden which is in a dilapidated state. The paver-blocks from the walkways have gone missing and the entire surface is non-uniform. This existing theatre will be reconstructed while another new one will also be created, civic body’s GIC department added.
The BMC aims towards making this place an extension of the fort so that the historical value is reflected. The fort comes under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), while the periphery falls under the BMC’s jurisdiction. As a result, they will not be carrying out any work inside the fort since as the civic body don’t have authority.
The cost of this project has been pegged at INR 17 crore. BMC aims to complete the project by December 2024. The civic body has architectural firm Hafeez Contractor as the principal design consultant.
The key aspect of this plaza is going to be seven information tablets that will be entirely carved from basalt stones. Each of the seven tablets will give out historical information of the fort along with some salient features of the seven islands. These tablets will also represent seven canons of the fort that serve as a milestone depicting historical timeline.
Besides this, the entire pathway that led to the fort is being redone by using basalt stones and granite bands that would serve as an extension of the fort.
The granite wall of the fort will also be polished and murals depicting significant historical events will also be created.
For those unversed, it has a popular sunset-view point and also serves as an extension to the promenade. Located at the peninsular tip at the fag-end of Bandstand, the garden extends horizontally on a sloping stretch that rises to nearly 30 metres from the sea level, which provides an unhindered view of the Arabian Sea.
At present, there are palm trees and natural walkways, but due to lack of maintenance, several parts of this garden are in a dilapidated state with a huge chunk of land being encroached.
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