Heritage panel to chalk out security plan for Gateway

The sub-committee includes heritage committee members Cyrus Guzder,David Cardoz,Vikas Dilawari and Abha Lambah who will work with the BMC’s city engineering department to put barricades at the Gateway of India.

“These members have been chosen to interact with the civic corporation and the Mumbai Police to create a comprehensive plan for the barricades that will be designed in line with the seven or eight points raised in the heritage committee’s site visit report,” said MHCC chairman V Ranganathan.

A 10-foot-high permanent wrought-iron barricade has been proposed around the Gateway’s land-side perimeter with grills of one-inch gap to check unrestricted entry.

A heritage committee member said,“Some of the points that we have raised in our site visit were regarding the aesthetic aspects of the structure. While security is imperative,it has be planned in a manner that it doesn’t mar the aesthetics of this landmark heritage site. We have also raised concerns on the point that the proposed barricading does not allow for much public movement.”

Another committee member added,“The sub-committee will look at ways of designing barricades that could be of stained glass or polycarbonate. They will interact with the security agencies and work out how to design installations such as baggage screens and other monitoring devices to secure the area.”