Mumbai's Famous 'Hanging Gardens' To Shut Down For 7 Years Over Reconstruction Of Colonial-Era Reservoir

Mumbai's famous Hanging Gardens, a 136-year-old landmark, will be closed down in a phased manner for seven years due to a reconstruction activity of a colonial-era reservoir, which is located under the garden on Malabar Hill.

The Additional Municipal Commissioner (projects), P Velrasu said, “The plan is to demolish and reconstruct the reservoir over a period of seven years.” According to a TOI report, The entire landscape will be destroyed and rebuilt by the authorities. During the operation, trees will be removed, and on a neighbouring plot, almost 350 trees will be transplanted.

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Mumbai's guardian minister and local MLA MP Lodha has scheduled a public meeting for Tuesday to address the problem in response to resident protests. This reservoir, which is one of the highest spots in the city, is designed to use gravity to supply water to most of SoBo.

The Rs 698 crore project to demolish the Hanging Gardens and rebuild the enormous tank beneath it has been ongoing ever since a structural analysis revealed its unstable state. The 2017 audit found flaws in both the columns supporting the reservoir's roof, which supports the garden.

P Velrasu, the additional municipal commissioner in charge of the civic hydraulic department, highlighted that because of the tank's present capacity of 147 million liters, the BMC has no option but to completely demolish it.

There are five chambers in the reservoir, which has a surface area of about 22,000 square meters.