Take a trip down memory lane on Sobo tram track

Civic body will restore 153yearold tram service’s track

MUMBAI: City residents will soon be able to picture how the 153year-old Flora Fountain looked with the tram service running near it. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to restore remnants of a tram track that is over 100 years old, to its original form near Flora Fountain, where it was found in June this year. These will become part of the Flora Fountain precinct for viewing, once the restoration work of the fountain is complete, within six months.

This is the first time that the excavated tram tracks will be restored in their original location. Architect Vikas Dilawari, who is overseeing the restoration project, said, “We plan to elevate them slightly, and restore them exactly where they were found.”

Horse-pulled trams were first set up in 1874 in Mumbai, and they were replaced with electric trams in 1907 and stopped working in 1964, according to Dilawari.

In February 2016, a part of these tram tracks were found below the road opposite the Bombay high court, during excavation

work. Similarly, in December 2017, BEST workers carrying out repair work found tram tracks at Tardeo. They were removed to be preserved at BEST Museum.

BMC began excavation of the area around Flora Fountain in June this year, as the second part of the ₹4-crore restoration work of the fountain. As this part involves beautification of the fountain precinct, conservation architects dug up the surrounding area in order to resurface it, and found at least a century-old tram tracks, just a few feet below the ground. Sudarshan Shirsath, from BMC’S heritage cell, said, “This will be a real treat to viewers. We will sand blast the rusted metal, remove the rust and dirt, and elevate the tracks slightly. Visitors will be able to walk on and across the tracks, and take photographs along them.”

BMC will put up a plaque about the history of trams and beautify the area. The area will be refurbished with smooth basalt slabs, a decorative garden, benches, and wrought iron lamp posts and railings.