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Banganga, the fading heritage of Mumbai

Mumbai's heritage site Banganga tank had a glorious history but the current state current state is shameful. Here's looking at the causes of deteriorating condition of the 11th century structure that includes encroachments, faulty restoration and lot more

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Banganga tank at Walkeshwar
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Saying that the Banganga tank is in a pathetic state would be an understatement as the problems plaguing it are way too many. There is the obvious problem of slum encroachment due to the indifferent attitude shown by the D-ward as well as lack of conservation and lack of security of the monument by the Archeological Survey of India.

Faulty restoration

In the first week of this month, restoration work for the 11th century Banganga tank kick started but received a lot of flak from citizens as well as from the Goud Saraswat Brahman Temple Trust. The reason being that the contractors carrying out the restoration work have apparently damaged some of the steps of the tank. Apart from this, a small shanty constructed on the tank has also supposedly damaged the structure. Mehak Dehani, a local, shares, “I don’t trust the authorities to carry out legitimate and careful restoration work because I feel that they are not skilled enough do it. Moreover, it is obvious that they do not respect the monument; else the tank wouldn’t be in such a pitiable state today.” While the work has started already, the temple trust has alleged that they were kept in the
dark about the restoration work.

Dwindling marine life

Every year, during the long religious month of Pitru Paksh, significant among Hindus for remembering and praying for their long-gone ancestors, thousands of people throng the tank and immerse flour, fruits and flowers in the water as part of their rituals. Every year, this practice causes hundreds of fishes to die and eventually rot in the tank as the overall level of water pollution increases.

 

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