Conservationists bring Justice and Mercy to HC

“Work on Mercy, the statue on the south side, was completed around March 15 after two months but we should be able to finish Justice, on the north side, in less than 20 days,” V A Sawant, sectional engineer, PWD, told Newsline who is responsible for the project. Three months before the work began, inspections by international and Indian experts formed the basis of the recommendations made by the Bombay Collaborative, which had been appointed by the court in 1998 to suggest strategies to look after the entire building. It was in 1998 that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court constituted a conservation committee to look after the High Court. Made up of eminent lawyers, notaries, an engineer and a member of one member of the Urban Heritage Conservation committee, this body has given its consent to the work on the statues.

“Though the statues were not in the management plan we submitted at the end of 1999, the fact that they were in danger of collapse resulted in our being appointed to assist the PWD in an informal capacity,” explains Mehrotra.

Made of soft limestone, the rear of the statues have suffered the most. “When it rains,” explains conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah of the Bombay Collaborative, “the front of the statue is directly lashed by the rain but it is the rear that takes longer to dry, resulting in alternative dry and wet surfaces. Sulphate skin accretions form that are washed away causing extensive weathering.

“Rather than selecting abrasive cleaning, we have suggested a poultice system, which uses clay packs to desalinate the statues,” adds Lambah, who is working on the project with fellow-conservationist David Cardoz. The physical task has been undertaken by a group of 10 workmen led by sculptor V V Patkar. Teetering above the city on scaffolding that girds the whole tower, the group mix modelling clay and ammonia a ratio of 1:10 to pack the surface of the statues. “It is indeed a difficult and dangerous job,” stresses Sawant. “I did float tenders for it but hardly anyone was willing to take it up. Patkar was one of the bidders, save for one other who wanted Rs 2 lakh for each statue,” he adds. Restoring each statue costs the state government and the high court approximately Rs 45,000, Sawant says.

Cleaning the statues is no mean job. Challenges include the air pressure which increases to such a degree in the evening that the entire scaffolding trembles and the hot sun which pours down on the workmen through the day. That’s not all. Hauling lime, quartz-sand and glue up the scaffolding is not easy either. There are also always the risks of working on the scaffolding. Says Sawant: “I know this is a difficult job with many responsibilities, but I can approach the task with full confidence because I have the support of my entire department including P Y Deshmukh, executive engineer, J B Borge, chief engineer, B A Gangurde, suprintendant engineer, S B Chowbe and A V Thackeray, both sub-divisional engineers.

The task may be daunting, but as one looks at the completed Mercy, pristine and soft white, with her cloak in limestone folds and then across at the pock-marked, pitted visage of Justice, one looks forward to seeing it sunshine clean as well.