A Dome With A View
The BMC Building May Pale In Comparison To The Magnificent CST, But It Has Its Own Charms ….Anil Singh I TNN
Mumbai: The Gothic BMC building pales in comparison with the CST building across the road but one place where the former scores is in the view from the top. At 255 feet, the BMC building is a good 20 feet higher than its neighbour and offers a stunning view of Mumbai from its dome.
On one side is the busy harbour with ships in the distance and cranes in the foreground and the other side is the bay of Marine Drive with Malabar Hill appearing as a concrete curtain behind it. Even 50 years ago, this would have been the tallest building in south Mumbai with the Rajabai Tower, the high court, the city police headquarters, the Crawford Market and the Western Railway building as the only other structures to stand out. Today, these stately buildings are lost in the skyline; the BSE building and the RBI headquarters dominate the view to the south and as to the north, there is mass of skyscrapers in central Mumbai.
Every inch of Azad Maidan with its numerous cricket pitches is visible from here. But the grandest sight from here is that of CST building which can be seen in its full glory. Both buildings were made by the same architect, F W Stevens, around the same timein the late 1880s.
Despite the marvellous view, the dome of the BMC building is locked and out of bounds for everyone, except perhaps for the man hoisting and lowering the national flag every day. Mayor Shubha Raul visited it on Thursday afternoon and leaned to look from each and every corner like an excited schoolgirl.
As interesting as the view from the top is the way to the dome; through a narrow spiral staircase in each of the four minarets around the dome. It is only when you are on top that you realise that the building has a false internal dome, the one visible from the lobby.
It is surprising how the BMC administration itself has treated the building so shabbily up to now. The terrace of the dome is littered with corroded pipes, the corners around the gallery under the false dome are splattered with paan spittle, cubicles and partitions have come up in every nook and corner. The best view of D N Road from the inside, a place which should be a viewing gallery, is occupied by the municipal auditors office.
However, all this is going to change. In January, the BMC floated tenders for restoring the building, billed as the largest conservation project in India. Expected to be completed in two years, the Rs 60 crore project involves an overhaul of the main heritage building of the BMC as well as the annexe. Many departments will be relocated and streamlined. Importantly, visitors will not be allowed access beyond the ground floor. Hopefully, they will conduct heritage tours of the building and the dome every Sunday.
