A controversy has erupted over the conservation work currently going on at the Bandra Fort. Residents have alleged that the conservation process has completely ruined the fort, while conservation architects say the procedure is in keeping with the tenets of archaeology and will take a few months to be completed.

Social media was abuzz with messages of a “ruined” Bandra Fort after the fort garden reopened after two years of redevelopment, on October 6. Vidyadhar Date, a resident of Bandra said, “After the reopening of Bandra Fort garden, I visited it and was shocked to find that the heritage character has been heavily tampered with. The old fort wall is completely plastered over so the whole character of the fort is gone. Can one imagine the walls of Raigad Fort or any other fort in Maharashtra plastered in a cream colour as is done here in the Portuguese-era Bandra Fort? How on earth did the heritage authorities allow this?”