Rs 100-crore heritage boost for Mumbai expected in BMC budget

The iconic Flora Fountain in Fort was inaugurated last month following its restoration by the heritage department. File Pic

Mumbai's once mighty mills are all set to make a comeback in the under-construction textile museum, as the BMC's heritage department has proposed a Rs 100-crore allocation for the project in the upcoming year. The civic budget detailing these allocations will be announced today.

Apart from the Rs 300 crore textile museum, which was allocated Rs 25 crore in last year's budget, the heritage department has also planned to take up the restoration of the Horniman Circle in Fort this year and invite proposals for the multimedia musical fountain including a light and sound show in the textile museum premises.

The Horniman Circle restoration will focus on its fencing and repairing some internal structures. File Pic

An ode to Mumbai's mills
The museum at Kalachowkie is the BMC's tribute to the city's once-thriving mill culture. As part of the project, mill structures will be restored and shops will be set up within the museum premises - similar to the Dilli Haat in the capital - to provide a platform to cloth artisans from across the state.

As part of the conservation and restoration of historical fountains and statues, the BMC will also take up repair work of the Kalchowkie Pyaav (fountain) and the Fitzgerald fountain among other things. The heritage department has also asked for an allocation of Rs 6.45 crore for urban design projects (like the Fort Precinct Project) aimed at uplifting the ambience of heritage structures.

Horniman Circle restoration
Civic officials said that a Rs 3 crore proposal is being drafted for the Horniman Circle Restoration project. "Once the proposal has been finalised, it will be sent to the heritage committee for approval. The work will focus on restoring the fencing around the Horniman Circle garden and repair of the internal structures," said a civic official.

The overall proposed budget for the heritage department this financial year is around Rs 140 crore, significantly higher than that of last year's Rs 45 crore. The allocation for the maintenance of official residences of the Mayor, the municipal commissioner and the assistant municipal commissioners has, however, dropped from Rs 1.5 crore last year to just Rs 50 lakh this year. Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar recently shifted out of the mayoral bungalow at Shivaji Park to a smaller one at Byculla.

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