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Housing and land reclamation |
| Answer» The seven islands of Bombay were joined into one landmass only over a period of time.(i)The earliest project began in 1784. The Bombay governor William Hornby approved the building of the great sea wallwhich prevented the flooding of the low-lying areas of Bombay.(ii)Since then, there have been several reclamation projects. The need for additional commercial space in the mid-nineteenth century led to the formulation of several plans, both by government and private companies, for thereclamation of more land from the sea.(iii)Private companies became more interested in taking financial risks. In 1864, the Back Bay Reclamation Company wonthe right to reclaim the western foreshore from the tip of Malabar Hill to the end of Colaba. Reclamation often meant thelevelling of the hills around Bombay.(iv)As the population continued to increase rapidly in the early twentieth century, every bit of the available area was builtover and new areas were reclaimed from the sea.(v)A successful reclamation project was undertaken by the Bombay Port Trust, which built a dry dock between 1914 and1918 and used the excavated earth to create the 22-acre Ballard Estate. Subsequently, the famous Marine Drive ofBombay was developed. | |