Khada Parsi to stay put

The statue of the Khada Parsi, which looms over the junction between two flyovers in Byculla, will not be moved after all. Despite earlier plans of the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) to shift the iconic statue of Seth Cursetjee Manockjee first to Dadar’s Five Gardens and later across the road from its present location to the compound of the Bombay Fire Brigade headquarters (see "Khada Parsi may be moved,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, May 7, 2008), it has now been decided that the statue will remain at its original spot, as per a report in The Indian Express (IE) dated January 25, 2009.

"The local ward committee had proposed to shift the statue… (but) the shifting was opposed by many and was not feasible as it could endanger the Grade I heritage structure,” stated an official of the Heritage Department. A proposal for its restoration will soon be submitted to the Bombay Heritage Conservation Committee. Work will begin once the traffic and road departments give the required permission and is expected to be completed in six months, IE reports.

Details of fountain and Corinthian pillar at base of Khada Parsi statue

In 2007 the civic administration had proposed the restoration and repair of eight Grade I heritage structures owned by it, including the Khada Parsi statue and Flora Fountain. Conservation architect Pankaj Joshi, a consultant to the BMC, will undertake restoration of the grand old statue. He told IE that his main task would be to replace the missing elements of the fountain at the base of the Corinthian column and to repair all the broken pieces. "There are a lot of details and features that are missing. Also, over the years, air pollution has damaged the structure,” he added.

The statue had four large lamps midway up the column that were replaced in the 1920s. The four-feet-tall lamps, whose base brackets still exist, were stolen in the 1970s. To bring alive the mermaid fountain the base will have to be dug up to find the old water pipeline, the IE report elaborates. Encroachments at the base of the statue will have to be removed. Parts of the cast iron have been scraped off or are completely broken. After the restoration, a preventive enclosure will surround the statue. Joshi told IE: "A security enclosure is necessary to ensure that there is no further encroachment and that all its parts remain intact.” An information plaque will be displayed there as well.

The nearly century-and-a-half-old statue was installed in memory of the illustrious Seth Manockjee in the 1860s. Made to order by his youngest son Manockjee Cursetjee, it cost the then princely sum of Rs 20,000. The statue was later "gifted” to the BMC on condition that it would be kept in proper repair, IE concludes.