Mumbai: After their visit to Malabar Hill Reservoir (MHR), two of the members of the technical committee said that the tank is in good condition and only repairs are required to a few portions where leak was noticed. The expert committee inspected compartment 1A, 1B and 1C for two hours on Monday. The members had earlier inspected compartment 2 A and 2B on December 7, which they found to be in good condition.
The inspection took place between 8 am and 10 am, for which the tank was emptied. Alpa Sheth, a structural engineer and also a member of the technical committee said, “Only portions where there has been reinforced concrete used would require repairs otherwise the tanks are in a good condition." Architect Rahul Kadri, another member who inspected the compartment of MHR said, "The reservoir is in an amazingly good condition and requires only repairs. These are minor repairs and do not require demolition of the entire structure for reconstruction."
Committee to meet in next few days to discuss issues with civic official
Other than the local representative, the professors from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and deputy municipal commissioner Chakradhar Kandalkar are also part of the committee. The committee will be meeting in the next few days to discuss the issue along with the civic official before concluding a further course of action. They will also be studying 149 suggestions that have been received from the citizens on the methodology to be adopted for reconstruction of MHR.
Dr. Nilesh Baxi, member of the core committee of Malabar Hill residents said, "I was present at Hanging gardens during the visit and have learned that the experts are of the opinion that the tank is repairable. We are very happy and hope that the BMC takes cognizance of the opinion of the technical committee members." The technical committee has been formed to inspect the 136-year-old reservoir that has been proposed to demolish and rebuild at a cost of Rs 698 crores. Since the tank was emptied for internal inspection, a 10 % water cut was imposed in South Mumbai on Monday.
