200 year-old milestones that once measured distances from Fort's St Thomas Cathedral are slowly succumbing to widespread construction and resident apathy
200 year-old milestones that once measured distances from Fort's St Thomas Cathedral are slowly succumbing to widespread construction and resident apathyu00a0
As expatriates and curious Mumbaikars rediscovered the history of the city during a Heritage Walk organised by the Indian Merchants Chamber last week, they realised that one aspect of Mumbai's architectural heritage has remained largely ignoredu00a0-- the milestone.
Dr SS Rao Road near Mahatma Gandhi Hospital. Pics/Nimesh Dave
Three years ago, Tardeo-based chartered accountant Dinshaw Karanjia (32) began researching about Mumbai's milestones, built almost 200 years ago, for a short story he was writing, and found to his dismay that many were either no longer to be found, or damaged due to the ignorance of Mumbaikars.
Built in the 1800s, the milestones were constructed to mark distances in the city, measured from the St Thomas Cathedral (built in 1718) in Fort, then called St Thomas Church, and stretched across Kalbadevi, Mazgaon, Grant Road and Sion. The 0-mile milestone was located opposite Asiatic Library at Horniman Circle, and the 1-mile milestone was stationed in Kalbadevi.
Abha Narain Lambah, conservation architect, says, "There are 15 milestones listed as Grade-I heritage structures, so the law requires that they be protected and preserved." Karanjia found quite the opposite. "Some of them are engulfed in layers of cement, while others are damaged. One is being used to rest a fruit-vendor's wares, and another has been uprooted and misplaced while tiling pavements," he says.
Salim Ahmadullah who has researched and documented Mumbai's old milestones says these 'architectural gems' from another era tell us about the city's past. "Twenty years ago, I had a discussion with the then BMC Commissioner regarding preserving these milestones. He suggested that they should be uprooted and placed in a museum. At that time, I thought it was a bad idea, but today, I regret we didn't do it back then," he said.
A few however, have been saved. Two milestones that were originally located at Crawford Market now stand at Byculla's Dr Bhau Daji Lad museum. Conservation architect Kruti Garg suggested building a wall around existing milestones. "There should be a boundary around the milestones, with information indicating their date of construction so that onlookers understand their importance," she suggests.
Mumbai Heritage Committee, chairman Dinesh Afzalpurkar, says,u00a0 "We can't blame the Heritage committee for the condition of the structures. It is just an advisory body. The responsibility to protect the structures lies with the citizens; the government can only help them."
In the meantime, the milestone at Chinchpokli is under threat due to the construction of the monorail, however MMRDA Joint Project Director and spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar says they would "take full care to protect all heritage structures".
When contacted, a senior BMC official didn't seem aware that milestones were Grade-I heritage structures. "I am not aware of this. If you can give me their number (each heritage structure has a number) I can check their status," he says.
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