Soon, get a ringside view of BMC and CST from new viewing gallery

The eye-sore opposite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters will soon have a chic glass viewing gallery, from where visitors can get an unobstructed view of Mumbai's two iconic structures—the BMC headquarters and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) building across the road. The garish protruding domes that house the blower fans for the subway below will be done away with, and the cavity will be replaced by a glass-bottomed viewing gallery.

The work on developing the viewing gallery will be done by BMC, the proposal for which has already been passed by civic chief Ajoy Mehta. "The subway structure is almost like an encroachment and shadows the grandeur of the bronze statue of Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, who was the first Indian mayor of Mumbai," said a senior civic official, adding that building an aesthetic gallery will not only restore the pride of BMC headquarters, but will also offer a fantastic viewpoint for visitors and tourists.

The budget for the proposal has been sanctioned through the corporation's Gardens Department, and work on developing the gallery will be executed through BMC's A/Ward office, under whose jurisdiction the spot falls. Work is expected to commence in a week's time and the new viewing gallery is expected to be in place by the end of the year.

The viewing gallery will come as a much-needed facility for tourists in Mumbai for whom the two heritage monuments are a must-see. While the Gothic-styled BMC building was opened in 1893, the Unesco World Heritage structure of CST railway station was opened in 1888.