Esplanade Mansion redevelopment row re-sparked by balcony crash

"It is sad but not surprising," laments Abha Narain Lambah, over the phone lines from Delhi when she learnt of the collapse of a balcony from the façade of the 150-year-old Watson's Hotel in Kala Ghoda. Barely two weeks back, the conservation architect was part of the Indian delegation that ensured Mumbai's Victorian Gothic and Art Deco ensemble finally earned the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) tag after a 14-year-long struggle. One of the buildings in the precinct that finds mention in the dossier includes this engineering marvel, which is probably India's oldest cast iron structure in use.

Hotel of woes
Last Sunday evening, the one-time hotel housed inside the Esplanade Mansion, hailed as the city's most luxurious in the 1880s, witnessed another unfortunate episode where its balcony collapsed, crushing an unoccupied black-and-yellow taxi parked below.

Despite several parts of the 150-year-old Esplanade Mansion, a heritage building, crumbling over the years, there have been instances of residents refusing to vacate the premises

Luckily, there were no casualties. Back in 2005, a portion had collapsed as well, killing a pedestrian who was walking below the structure. "In fact, in 2004, Sharada Dwivedi and I had nominated it as an endangered structure to the World Monuments Fund (WMF). During our UNESCO WHS presentation in Bahrain as well, the technical advisory committee had identified this building as a dangerous one," she elaborates, underlining the fact that the structure was already in the red when it came to public safety.

Not just the WMF list, this building has also been on the dilapidated list of MHADA for over 10 years due to its deteriorating condition. Decades of illegal tenants, pressure on its mezzanine levels, indiscriminate welding and fitting of material has damaged a building that was once the toast of Bombay for its exquisite dining room, luxe suites, courtyards, Minton tiled floors, and where American novelist Mark Twain was a guest as he wrote about the city's crows in his book, Following the Equator.

The portion of the balcony collapsed and fell on a taxi on Sunday. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Taking cognisance of this recent disaster, the Maharashtra Housing Area and Development Authority (MHADA) today announced that it would move court to demand its intervention over this disaster to the heritage structure. According to MHADA sources, it is mulling to also approach the High Court with a proposal to redevelop the building. Another side to this pressing matter is the challenge that officials claim where its tenants have refused to vacate the buildings, thereby creating logistical roadblocks till date for any kind of restoration.

There have been claims about the tenants and owner engaged in a dispute. The man at the centre of it all - the landlord, Sadiq Ali Mansoori - has not been reachable all day, despite repeated attempts until going to press. This recent crash has led to MHADA closing the approach on Monday morning so that it did not cause any threat to pedestrians or vehicular traffic.

Civic line
According to MHADA officials, the matter is sub-judice since 2016 and the authority has been asked to not intervene with the repairs of the building and it will not be held responsible in case of any kind of disaster.

MHADA has already given a No Objection Certificate to the Esplanade Mansion, about three years ago but there is no movement in this manner. "For very long time there was no movement on this front. Now, we will urge the court allowing the authority to carry out the redevelopment of the said premises," a MHADA official mentioned, on condition of anonymity.

DK Jagdale, the chief officer of MHADA's Repair and Reconstruction Board, said, "We will submit all the observations and an entire report of the incident to the Court and ask for the Court to give directions in this case. We will take appropriate steps as per the direction of the Court."

Speaking to mid-day, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of A-Ward (CST Churchgate), Kiran Dighavkar said, "The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had sent notice under MMC Act 354 in 2013 to owner of the Esplanade Mansion for dilapidated condition. However, the tenants and owner of the buildings did not vacate the building. The building falls under heritage Grade 2-A. In 2015, the High Court directed civic body's building proposal department not to pull any part of the building without taking permission from Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee. The building was propped up with help of registered structural engineer."

What next for Watson?
Amidst this maze of solutions from various civic departments, it means further ambiguity on the future of one of the city's most unique, yet neglected heritage structures. "The structure must be saved at any cost. MHADA, I feel, might not be equipped to offer specialised expertise to create a sympathetic design and should take outside help," suggests Narain Lambah, adding that she and the other stakeholders who brought the UNESCO tag to this precinct, are open to a dialogue with the owner to save this building with help from the state government.

"They (the state) have the right to intervene," she adds, drilling home two key factors - evacuation of its occupants and how to best retrofit the structure in a sensitive way.

Maneck Davar, chairman of the Kala Ghoda Association, another vital cog in the conservation of this heritage precinct, is also hopeful that the state government steps in: "From a public safety viewpoint, they must move the matter to its logical conclusion. A byproduct would be that the heritage structure is preserved for the city." Both Lambah and Davar hope that Mumbai's philanthropically inclined corporates can restore this building to make it a space for the arts in SoBo.
Shaina NC, who played a role in pushing for Mumbai's case in Bahrain, had some reassuring news at the end of the day, "The state government will be approached. Until, now, the urban development department has been supportive."
Inputs by Laxman Singh

Did you know?
The first film screening on the Indian Subcontinent was held at the Watson's Hotel in 1896 with the screening done via the Lumière Brothers' Cinematographe invention.

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