‘Restored’ Banganga tank springs leaks

The restoration of the 600-year-old steps at the famous Banganga tank in Walkeshwar is not yet complete, yet it has already sprung leaks.

Residents, who live around the tank, were shocked to see water emerging from the newly — ‘conserved’ stone steps. The old steps had never leaked, residents say.

The state department of archaeology had spent a whopping Rs2.60 crore on the restoration. What’s more, the restoration work that started on December 31, 2007, is moving at snail’s pace with only 50% of the work completed so far. The yellow-red rocks that were embedded some 600 years ago, were dumped as debris.
“Isn’t the state archaeology department answerable to anybody?

More than Rs2 crore is spent on such a shoddy job. They have made a mockery of conservation,” said Kalpesh Vora, a resident. “Conservation means preserving the heritage look and not making it new. The old, heritage look has gone,” said Dilip Joshi, another resident.

Bavji Thakur, a fifth generation resident, says the height of the steps has increased so much that senior citizens have a hard time negotiating them. “Also, unlike the lime mortar used in the old steps, these stones are laid with cement. We won’t be surprised if the steps come off during the monsoon,” Thakur said.

Irritated residents took out a signature campaign on the matter and have approached the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee for intervention. “This is a tourist spot meant to show the age of the place. What is the point when conservation doesn’t retain the character of the tank?” asked Prashant K, another resident.

When Dr SS Gharpure, director, state archaeological department, was contacted, he said, “We are visiting the site on March 17 along and will take a decision on repairing small cracks. Old steps had to be replaced. Vegetation must have grown on the steps and caused leakages. Otherwise, there is no problem with our conservation work.”

DNA visited the site and found no growth of vegetation on the spots that had leakages.

When Gharpure was asked about the money pumped in for the project, he said, “We’ve completed the first phase at Rs2 crore. It is because we didn’t find that quality of stone in Mumbai that we had to get stones from elsewhere.”