Crack in façade of Gateway of India awaits restoration

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The Archaeology department discovers has found cracks in the façade of Mumbai’s iconic Gateway of India and it is awaiting restoration now. The famed Gateway of India in Mumbai, which has been standing for more than a century and overlooks a section of the Arabian Sea, has developed surface fractures, which is the reason for alarm.

According to a structural audit study produced by the archaeological department, the façade of the Gateway of India has fissures with vegetative growth growing in them as well as deterioration to the waterproofing and reinforced cement-concrete in the domes. A repair plan for about Rs 6.9 crore has also been provided to the Maharashtra government by the state’s directorate of archaeology and museums. The Gateway of India is in need of restoration, and the minister of cultural affairs, Sudhir Mungantiwar, has promised that a budget of roughly Rs 8 crore has been suggested and will be approved shortly.

The minister had received a presentation from the archaeological department that showed the stone had been pitted by previous abrasive cleaning, which had caused sulfate accretions and algae, and that the mortar seams between bricks or other masonry pieces had lost their gloss. The archaeological department and conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah jointly inspected the Gateway of India, and Lambah also wrote a thorough project report on the results of their work.