List steps to restore Esplanade Mansion's glory: HC tells Maha

The Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government on Thursday to inform it about all that can be done to restore the now-sealed Esplanade Mansion in south Mumbai to its previous glory.

A bench of justices S C Dharmadhikari and G S Patel also sought the opinion of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) over such restoration.

The directions came after the MHADA informed the court that the state's Urban Development Department had recommended that Esplanade Mansion, the 100-year-old cast iron building in the city, be restored and not demolished.

On a previous occasion, the BMC's heritage committee, too, had recommended restoration.

The bench, thus, directed the authorities to draw up a plan with details of the budget required for such work, possible sources of funding, etc., by August 21 this year.

On April 3, the high court had ordered the tenants, comprising 53 residential units and 93 commercial establishments, of the historic building to vacate the premises since a structural audit conducted by the state authorities as well as the IIT-Bombay had found the building to be unsafe.

All the occupants of the heritage structure were subsequently evicted.

The five-floor Esplanade Mansion, formerly known as Watson's Hotel, was built with cast iron fabricated in England and finds a place in the list of '100 World Endangered Monuments'.