Mumbai: Reservoir reconstruction scrapped by BMC for now

Members of the committee examining the reservoir on December 7, 2023

Fifteen months after awarding a Rs 700 crore contract for rebuilding the Malabar Hill reservoir, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided not to reconstruct the 143-year-old tank for now. But the decision on construction of an additional tank for repairing the old one will be taken after the report of IIT Roorkee arrives.

Residents and activists have opposed the project as it would necessitate the axing of at least 389 trees for building the new tank. In the past seven months, experts visited the site thrice to determine if the project was necessary.

The BMC appointed an expert committee comprising residents and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay professors in November 2023 but it was divided in its opinion. The civic body then requested IIT Roorkee to look into the matter. Its experts visited the spot in June and their report is still awaited. However, after a discussion with them, the BMC decided to stop the work awarded for the reconstruction of the reservoir.

"The IIT Roorkee report is awaited, but it is almost certain that immediate reconstruction of the entire reservoir is not required," said a civic official. Another official said, "We awarded the contract for reconstruction based on an earlier report. But as opinion was divided, we asked the third committee to give us a final opinion."

He added that based on the opinion of IIT Roorkee, the structural strength does not depend upon the age of the structure. "The reservoir is in good shape and doesn't require reconstruction immediately. We requested them to give us a checklist mentioning things like whether it needs immediate repairs and whether construction of a new tank is required," the official added.

Citizen Speak

On Friday, in a press conference, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, guardian minister of Mumbai Suburban district, said that he had written to the civic chief requesting the scrapping of the tender and starting the process of repairing water tanks wherever needed without breaking and cutting of trees. "One of the remaining open spaces in our hands is the Hanging Garden. We must respect citizens who use this space and its natural beauty.

The reservoir can be repaired without cutting down trees," he said. "I am glad that the right decision has been made. It would have been tragic if a structure in such good condition, which should have a place of pride in Mumbai, would have been demolished without reason," said Alpa Seth, a public representative on the committee.

Dr Nilesh Baxi, who took the initiative to form a residents' group to save the Malabar Hill garden, said, "We received help from every corner to save the garden and save Rs 1,400 crore - Rs 700 crore for the reconstruction of an old reservoir and Rs 700 crore for construction of an additional one - in public money." However, a decision is yet to be taken on building a new tank, for which trees will have to be cut.

How events unfolded

The BMC had planned to demolish and reconstruct the 143-year-old reservoir that supplies water to south Mumbai, covered by the Hanging Gardens after constructing a new tank adjacent to the old ones so that the area would have get uninterrupted water supply. The work order was awarded in February 2023. The project, aimed at increasing reservoir capacity from 147 to 191 million litres, was expected to conclude by 2029.

After work started on the site, residents and activists opposed the plan over the tree issue. After strong opposition from residents and Lodha, the BMC formed a committee on November 8, including Deputy Commissioner (Special Engineering) Chakradhar Kandalkar, IIT professors R S Jangid, Jyoti Prakash, and Dasaka Murthy, and citizen representatives Dr Vasudev Nori, Alpa Seth and Rahul Kadri.

The committee members assessed tanks on December 18 and on December 7. The citizens ‘ representatives submitted an interim report to the then-BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on January 8. The report stated that demolition was not required and functional repairs, mainly non-structural, were enough, as five tanks were in good condition. The report also mentioned that there was no urgency for the repairs.

The IIT experts submitted their report in the first week of March, recommending the construction of a new tank into which the existing tank could be emptied for repairing or reconstructing the reservoir. After receiving the contrasting reports, the BMC invited experts from IIT Roorkee to Mumbai in April. The team visited the spot on June 4 and inspected two tanks of the reservoir.