First phase of textile museum ‘90% ready’
BMC plans to convert India United Mills No 2 &3 into a museum showcasing city’s textile mill history
Pratip Acharya
MUMBAI: A fountain on a pond, a screen for projection abutting the water body and an amphitheatre — these are some of the elements of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s upcoming Rs 282-crore textile museum that are fast nearing completion, a site visit by the Hindustan Times revealed.
The BMC on Wednesday said the first phase of the ambitious project being built inside India United Mills No 2 and 3 in Kala Chowki will be ready by September. The 34,000-square foot compound will also house souvenir stores, a cafeteria, seating areas for visitors and a library besides a museum that will showcase that city’s rich industrial heritage. Mumbai was once home to nearly 130 functioning textile mills in the 19th and early 20th centuries earning it the epithet Manchester of the East.
The project has been divided two phases. In the first, which was expected to be completed in February this year, souvenir stores, a cafeteria, an amphitheatre, murals, and an elevated causeway were to be built anew.
A musical fountain was also to be built atop a pond that was once used by mill workers. In the second phase, the existing structures which are in a dilapidated condition were to be restored, in order to house a museum (with mill machinery) and a library.
“Almost 90 percent of the first phase of the textile museum has been completed and the remaining works will be completed before September,” said Sanjay Sawant, head of BMC’S heritage cell, which is implementing the project. “We are conducting a dry run of the fountain to ensure that there are no technical glitches. The pond on which the fountain will come up was once used by mill workers. The history of that time will be showcased on a screen [constructed behind the pond] through images and jingles for which we have just received approval from the authorities,” Sawant added.
In 2009, the National Textile Corporation Limited (NTCL) handed over the mill compound to the civic body under an Integrated Development Scheme (IDS). However, work only began after the BMC civic standing committee’s nod in 2019.
The BMC has appointed a team of from the Sir J.J. School of Arts and Architecture to consult on the project. Sculptor Deepak Paunikar has been tasked with designing the gates and grills in cast iron.
“The gates, grills and lighting poles are made with cast iron. We have maintained the design theme commonly seen on Paithani sarees [from Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district] on these structures,” Paunikar said.