BMC cant pull down structures in heritage mill for textile museum…..Shalini Nair
The Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) has decided not to allow demolition of structures within the heritage precinct of India United Mills 2 & 3 for the BMCs proposed textile museum.
The BMC had decided to create a textile museum on these mill plots as a tribute to the citys bygone textile era. As part of phase one, the BMC had sought the heritage panels permission to demolish some structures which, though not individually listed as protected, were still within the precinct. Phase two and three would involve restoration of the remaining structures and landscaping of the open areas.
The panel, in its meeting on Thursday, has asked the BMC to leave the structures untouched. The committee will not allow any part of the precinct to be razed. Of all the mills, these two are the only ones that can be preserved as they enjoy heritage protection and we want to kept it that way, said a committee member.
The two sites were accorded heritage protection after a PIL filed by the INTACH in 2005 when the National Textile Corporation (NTC) started auctioning its mill plots to private developers. On directives from the Bombay High Court, the MHCC had compiled a list of sites and structures in 83 NTC mill and 23 privately owned mills that were thought worthy of a heritage tag. The list was not notified for a long while even as developers swiftly set about demolishing the structures recommended for heritage protection. Later, a BMC sub-committee reviewed the list and truncated it to 51 NTC and 17 private mill sites. By the time the final list was approved by the BMC commissioner, all that remained on the list was India United Mill No 2 & 3 precinct as well as four structures, a chimney and a water body within the precinct that were granted individual listings.
The committee will ask the BMC to submit a masterplan for the mill museum proposal; until we study the detailed plan, all existing structures have to be maintained as they are, said architect Jayant Vaidya who chaired the recent MHCC recent meeting where all members agreed that the handful of relics left from the citys mill history should not be demolished.
An officer working on the project said the BMC is yet to prepare a masterplan and has only a conceptual plan ready. We had sought permission for demolition of the structures after which we would have worked out a detailed plan, he said. Estimated to cost Rs 128 crore, the mill museum is proposed to come up on the 16 acre plot along with a landscaped garden with herbarium, dye plants, a natural heritage pond , an auditorium, boutiques and restaurants.