Efforts on to conserve bunker found in Maharashtra Raj Bhavan -Governance Now

Efforts on to conserve bunker found in Maharashtra Raj Bhavan

Experts will help prepare a conservation plan for the pre independence era structure that is surprisingly intact

Geetanjali Minhas | August 19, 2016 | Mumbai

#bunker #conservation #Maharashtra

A committee of experts will prepare a comprehensive conservation plan for the 150 metre long colonial bunker that was discovered under the governor’s office-cum-residence at Malabar Hill in Mumbai.

A meeting was held on Thursday. The structure was discovered three months after old employees told Governor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao of a tunnel on the premises and thereafter officials pulled down a temporary wall inside the Raj Bhavan complex.
Instead of an underground tunnel, a bunker spread over an area of more than 5,000 square feet with 13 rooms of different sizes was discovered. A 20 feet tall gate opens into the bunker with a ramp on the western side. There are long passages and small to medium rooms on either side. The rooms bear the names - Shell Store, Gun Shell, Cartridge Store, Shell Lift, Pump, Workshop etc. There are scores of lamp recesses in the gangway.

Even though the bunker was apparently closed after Independence, it was found to be intact. The entire underground bunker has a drainage system and inlets for fresh air and light. The underground passageway and chamber was perhaps used or intended to be used as a war room. The area had been closed off and it is unclear when exactly the structure was built and for what purpose.

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