Water to gush from Flora Fountain within six months

Citizens will soon get to see the landmark Flora Fountain in all its former glory, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started repairing its water system from Friday. Following the end of this work, within the next six months, the fountain will sprout water 24x7. For the past two years, the fountain has been shut, as its water system is in an extremely dilapidated condition, and the city loses a lot of water to leakages when supply to the fountain is started.

Assistant commissioner of the A ward, Kiran Dighavkar, said, “It is a very famous landmark in South Mumbai. But we cannot use it as the pipes are severely damaged and that leads to leakages. We occasionally put it on, during festivals and national holidays, but there is no point; the entire surrounding area gets flooded.”

Presently, the BMC plans to replace all water pipelines, before it can start functioning properly. However, this is only the first phase of the repair work, spanning over six months. Apart from repairing the water pipelines, the BMC will also undertake landscaping of the fountain area in the first phase. This work is expected to cost the civic body Rs 4.46 crore.

The project has been given to the Mumbai chapter of INTACH, and the chief consultant and architect for the project is Vikas Dilawari, who has also been a member of the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee previously.

Mr Dilawari said, “The first phase of the project involves restoration of the monument and the second phase involves restoration of its surroundings. Professional conservationists will be working on the project, cleaning the monument, and ensuring that water comes out of all the sprouts.”

He added that the plan also includes installing an Italian marble trough around the fountain, to collect water. Presently, there is only a cement trough around it.

The second phase includes creating a plaza around the monument, so that people can gather and spend time there.