Mumbai: The expert committee appointed to decide the fate of the Malabar Hill Reservoir (MHR) submitted its interim observations to the municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Monday. As per the interim report, "The Reservoir is overall in very good condition and no part of it requires urgent or immediate repairs. It can be maintained for a sufficiently long time to plan the minor repairs in detail and execute them carefully,." The report is signed by four out of eight members of the committee.
The interim report is signed by Prof Alok Goyal from the Civil Engineering Dept of IIT Bombay. Structural Engineers Dr V. V Nori and Alpa Sheth and Architect Rahul Kadri. The committee inspected five compartments of MHR during two visits in December. Based on the internal inspections of all the five compartments, the members observed, "that the walls appear to have been gunted a few years later with no reinforcement, possibly as a waterproofing measure."
The report states that, "Reservoir 1C, the reinforcing steel is redundant as the arches/vaults are in compression and hence, despite the corrosion, the small, affected area of the structure is not in any danger of imminent collapse. However, as and when the repairs can be carried out, the corrosion of bars should be attended to. It further states that, "In all the tanks, minor evidence of past leakage was noticed. Brown dried mud stains and white effervescence stains were noted, on the crest or towards the top of the arches. No damage was visible to the brick or concrete and they both looked in excellent condition."
Dr. Nori, Alpa Seth and Rahul Kadri in their letter to Chahal said that the experts believe that it is possible to come up with the best solution that is innovative, ensures continuous water supply to residents, is cost-effective and does not involve cutting of trees. However, more time and more expertise is required to come up with this solution and the Committee may request expert resources for this purpose.
