The Bombay High Court on Friday gave two weeks time to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of pedestrians passing by Esplanade Mansion. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and traffic police will be roped in for this, as the tasks will include re-routing of human as well as vehicular traffic and re-construction of footpaths which MHADA alone cannot handle.

Directives for the same were given by Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Justice G S Patel, after the advocate for MHADA submitted a report on the closure and barricading of the building, after it was vacated. While a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed by the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to save the 150-year-old heritage structure, the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) is also scrutinising the possibility of restoring the building.