Will pay Rs 50 crore for restoration, says Esplanade Mansion landlord

The cost of restoring the heritage structure is yet to be finalised in court. File pics

A week after a division bench of Justice S J Kathawalla and Justice B P Colabawalla asked Esplanade Mansion landlord Sadiq Ali's advocate, Cherag Balsara, to find if the former will contribute Rs 50 crore for the heritage structure's restoration, a source close to Ali said he has agreed to bear the cost.

A few tenants, too, will pitch in. The source further said that the decision would be communicated to the judges during the hearing today. "The landlord is willing to expend '50 crore for the project involving the restoration work, which will also include contributions from other bonafide tenants," the source added.

While a few tenants had earlier expressed apprehension over making hefty contributions towards the cost of restoration, there are some who are happy to pitch in. Ali Mohammed Chaospur, one of the owners of Army Restaurant, said, "Along with the landlord, we want to contribute towards the cost since it's our property and we have to take care of it.

Our restaurant has been closed since they shut the building and unlike other shop owners, we haven't been able to open elsewhere. We want this to be resolved as soon as possible." He added that even if the amount was high, they were willing to pay in instalments to the landlord.

Another tenant, Sandeep Gala, who owns a stationery shop and has now shifted to another space on the other side of the road, said that while the landlord had not approached him, he too was willing to contribute as much as he could afford. Like Chaospur, the other tenants have been closely following the court proceedings, which will eventually determine the fate of the Grade II structure, which is also a World Heritage Site.

Chaospur added that after the hearing on Thursday, the tenants were planning to meet the landlord to discuss the matter.

The court had appointed a panel of three experts to determine whether the 150-year-old structure can be restored and the cost it would involve. All three said that Esplanade Mansion could be saved but there was a discrepancy in the cost of restoration. While conservation architects, Abha Lambah and Pankaj Joshi had quoted a figure of '98 crore, structural architect Chetan Raikar had said that the cost of structural repairs would amount to '23 crore.

Raikar had also mentioned that complete restoration could be done at '45-50 crore. Although both Lambah and Raikar had defended their reasoning during the last hearing, the cost is yet to be finalised in court.

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