Mumbai's old buildings that are in desperate need of restoration

From the recent series of building collapses and tilts, it is clear that Mumbai doesn't care about its ageing buildings, and ground reality shows that that includes our crumbling heritage structures

While Flora Fountain, Cama Building and the Mulji Jetha Fountain got a much-needed fresh lease of life in 2016-17 (after how many decades of lying decrepit is a conversation for another time), there are many more in desperate need of restoration of their earlier shining glory. Work on Crawford Market and Town Hall has started, and we can just hope it doesn't drag on for years.

Alberobello village was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996 for its trulli - whitewashed dwellings capped with conical roofs

These two, however, are among the lucky few, as several other dilapidated ones are desperately waiting for attention. In our obsession for the new - drilling and other works being done for Metro III have been taking a toll on the heritage structures in the vicinity - we don't seem to have eyes on the old.

The dilapidated Esplanade Mansion has been up for a revamp for the last many years, but nothing has progressed so far

J N Petit Institute, a heritage building on DN Road, was finally forced to move HC over damage to its 119-year-old structure and to other heritage buildings in the vicinity due to MMRCL's tunnelling and excavation work there for Metro III. The HC has ordered the Metro body to stop the work for two weeks so that a survey can be conducted.

Citizens' take

Jaya Shetty, Assistant Manager
'While the civic administration does what it can to preserve heritage buildings, citizens seem to keep their contribution limited to just visiting these places. They should actively try and keep these monuments clean by not spitting on them or writing on their walls. Cleanliness is paramount'

Roopa Gopalkrishnan, artist
'Mumbai is largely indifferent to its amazing heritage... We take these structures for granted. Take the chawls of SoBo, for example, which were actually built in the 1910s. They're no more well maintained than slums. We should be taking a few cues from developed nations and refurbish and renew local architecture'

Expert opinion

V Ranganathan, ex-MHCC chairman
'We find there is no appreciation of heritage and the need to preserve it in the minds of policymakers. Land being dear in city, economic forces are always at work. There is a tendency to dilute the rules and allow heritage deterioration'

Rahul Chemburkar, Architect
'When we talk about heritage, we only think of structures in the island city, like CST. Heritage in the suburbs is equally important. Heritage conservation needs to expand to cover the entire city'

868
Number of heritage structures in the city as per a 2012 list

01
Heritage structures in city having UNESCO tag

1867
The year Flora Fountain was built

1,031
Total number of world heritage sites globally

1978
The year UNESCO's first list of protected places came out

07
India's rank in UNESCO's list of countries with most heritage sites

Trivia
Ahmedabad: Certified as India's First 'World Heritage City' this year
Italy: Country with the most no. of world heritage sites - 51
Myanmar: Country with the least number of world heritage sites - 1 - along with Paraguay
Arab states: Region having the least number of world heritage sites - 79 - and the most under threat - 33%

Chipping off
Esplanade Mansion
Afghan Church, Colaba
Regal Cinema
Eros
Hornby Building
Saroosh Building, Fort Amdar Niwas, Colaba
Etc...

A fresh coat...
Flora Fountain
Cama Building
Mulji Jetha Fountain (pictured)

Work in progress
Crawford Market
Town Hall

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