24 September,2026 08:11 AM IST | Mumbai | Sarthak Mehta
As per the original plans, 389 trees in the garden would be impacted. FILE PIC/ASHISH RAJE
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to appoint IIT Roorkee as a consultant to review its plan to construct an alternate 52 million litres reservoir at Malabar Hill, with the proposal passed by the civic Standing Committee on Wednesday. This is in line with BMC's larger plan to facilitate restoration of the original Malabar Hill reservoir, which is situated at Feroz Shah Mehta Garden in D ward.
The BMC said it had narrowed down on the solution to repair and restore the existing reservoir. During this process, wherein individual chambers are being restored, water storage at each of these needs to stop temporarily. The BMC said it needs to construct an additional water storage tank to ensure uninterrupted water supply to parts of South Mumbai.
Following protests from citizens and environmentalists, the alternate reservoir has been planned at a spot with fewer trees. The tank will have a capacity of 52 million litres and will be constructed behind the Hanging Gardens.
A senior civic official,
"We have designed and planned this tank in a way that would reduce its footprint on Hanging Gardens. Around 80-90 trees will be impacted, as compared to the 389 trees that were going to be impacted originally. The need for this additional reservoir has been ascertained through a study by IIT Roorkee, to store water during the restoration. It will also be used permanently to enhance the storage capacity, for water supplied to parts of South Mumbai by adding 52 million litres to the existing storage capacity."
As per the proposal submitted by the BMC to the Standing Committee, the civic body wants to appoint IIT Roorkee to conduct an independent technical review of the structures, plans, and procedures for the proposed Malabar Hill reservoir reconstruction. Prepared by consultant Md Pendaankar Associates, the revised scheme involves a three-tier, 52 million litre reservoir designed to minimise tree cutting.
Under the BMC's policy, complex construction projects require third-party evaluation by expert institutions like the IITs. IIT Roorkee was directly selected for its civil engineering expertise and monopoly status on this specific assessment, making a public tender unnecessary. The institutional service fee for this review is R22,00,000 (excluding GST).
Inputs by Eeshanpriya MS
