The Bombay Back Bay Reclamation Scheme, 1925 Print.
A 1925 print of the Bombay Back Bay reclamation scheme. It consists of four pages of the Engineering, a 1925 London-based engineering publication. It gave a detailed report of the progress of the Bombay Back Bay reclamation scheme, backed with rare pictures of the work in progress.
Some interesting extracts from the newspaper “The city of Bombay is located on what was at one time an island of the same name… In shape, the island is long and very narrow, and this circumstance has prevented the expansion of the city in accordance with the requirements of an ever-increasing population. Further, the concentration of business in the southern portion of the island, where the docks are situated, has increased and intensified the congestion.
The necessity for making provisions on an adequate scale for the growth of the city has been recognized for a number of years. And as long as 1865 a company was founded to reclaim 1500 acres of land from the sea in Back Bay… A certain amount of work was actually accomplished when the company was overcome by financial difficulties, and the work was then abandoned. Since that date the scheme has been periodically revived and discussed.
The suggested extent of reclamation varying from the whole of Back Bay between Colaba Point on the south and the Malabar Point to the north. It was not until the appointment of Sir George Lloyd to the governorship of Bombay, however, that a serious attempt was made to produce a practicable working scheme, received the sanction in 1920. The work is now well advanced.” The further account is of the work in progress and images of the work and machinery.
Did you know – this is probably the first time suction dredgers were used for the reclamation work.
Past posts – Raja Ravi Varma’s Portrait Photo – Old Postcard 1904., Aerial View of Colaba, Oval Maidan & Back Bay Bombay, 1890., Vasco Da Gama Before The Zamorin Calicut – Old Postcard., Vintage Book 1877 – Illustrated India: Its Princes And People.
