Flora Fountain to reopen soon as water leakages fixed

The iconic Flora Fountain in South Mumbai, which was shut down soon after it was unveiled last week due to water leakages, will reopen soon as the problem has been fixed, a civic official said Thursday.

The heritage structure was unveiled last Thursday after completion of the restoration work.

The senior official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), who supervised restoration work of the Grade-I heritage structure, said the site was closed after leakages were found in its water troughs.

"Our team immediately undertook the repair work. Now, the leakages have been fixed. The water supply system was very old and the valve was not properly fit into the system. But we have now installed a new plate, so there would be no leakages," he said.

"The structure can be reopened soon, maybe by today evening or tomorrow morning," he said.

The Flora Fountain currently receives water through a 200-mm pipeline that is quite old, the official noted.

After its first phase of restoration work was completed, this 150-year-old structure was inaugurated on January 24 by Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray and Mumbai Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar.

Civic officials said the second phase of the restoration work will take another few months to complete.

The work to renovate the 153-year-old Gothic Revival architecture was given to the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) by the BMC in September 2016. However, the organisation had stopped the work towards the end of 2017 due to paucity of funds. The restoration work had resumed in March 2018.

Flora Fountain is an ornamentally and exquisitely sculpted architectural heritage monument located in the Fort business district in South Mumbai.

Built in 1864, the decorated structure is a fusion of water, architecture and sculpture depicting the Roman goddess Flora.