Civic body mulls facelift of heritage structures

Mumbai: AS THE owner of 25 historic buildings among the 700-odd listed heritage structures in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is taking the first step towards their restoration—the empanelment of a team of conservation experts.

For each of these buildings—all nearly 100 years old and each one in active use—the BMC hopes to assign members of this panel to prepare a status report including historic information, existing defects and detailed proposals for restoration works, in the format required by the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee.

The consultant will also assist in the tendering process and supervision of work once a contractor is appointed. The proposed panel of experts comprises Harshad Bhatia, Kirti Unwalla, Vikas Dilawari, Pankaj Joshi, the Indian Heritage Society, the Mumbai chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural heritage, Structwel Designers and Consultants and Sterling Engineering Consultancy Services. The civic Standing Committee is expected to give the final go-ahead for the empanelment later this week.

A civic committee comprising the city engineer, the senior heritage conservation engineer, the curator of the Bhaudaji Laud Museum and Sadashiv Gorakshakar (former director of the Prince of Wales museum, he was on the committee as an outside expert) which scrutinised applications and made recommendations for appointments to the proposed panel, will continue its work as required, said sources.

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