Bombay High Court will come to a conclusion for Esplanade Heritage Mansion.

By Abhay Harish Shah, Realty Quarter

Bombay High court is going to decide about Mumbai’s most historical building future. Will Mumbai lose its historical Esplanade Mansion?  India’s oldest cast-iron building on the list of 100 world monuments at risk? The fate in Bombay’s high court can now rest on the 156-year-old historic building. A report earlier this month recommended demolition of the building by an expert committee of the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B). Mhada will probably approach the HC in order to recall the order and ask the company to repair the building.

“There is no logical and economic feast for repairing structures,” said the IIT-B Departmental panel comprised of Dr Mohammed Salman and Dr R. S. Jangid. The panel carried out a visual inspection at the Kala Ghoda building.

“Building repairs will be dangerous because there is no rigid link between many structural elements. In seismic conditions, the repairs cannot also make the structure habitable. The demolition of Esplanade Mansion will be prudent,” the report said.

On 3rd April, the HC had ordered to vacate by 15 May the dilapidated building by 53 residential families and 93 business premises. The time limit was then extended to 31st May by the Supreme Court.

Following another order from the HC, the structural audit of the building was carried out on August 2018. Following a request by its lawyer PG Lad, the report was submitted to Mhada. The report details building problems from neglect to illegal modification and the failure to repair them in due course.

According to the Committee, one of the big problems is the breakage of angle cleat connecting columns and beams and binding rods on each floor in many places, which causes the structure to lose stiffness.

The form changes made by the tenants on additional rooms and floors have increased the load on the original structure, the Panel said. According to the report, the building was a “health and hygiene concern,” in addition to the fire risk from electricity cable.