Latest revision as of 18:00, 19 May 2021

[edit] Fitzgerald Fountain

[edit] 2019/ revival

Richa Pinto , Sep 24, 2019: The Times of India

The Fitzgerald Fountain
From: Richa Pinto , Sep 24, 2019: The Times of India

Fitzgerald Fountain spouts again, installation likely in January

About sixty years after it was moved from Metro Cinema junction, Dhobitalao, to the yard of the museum at Byculla zoo, Fitzgerald Fountain has started working again.

Shifted at the height of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement as part of a campaign to remove colonial relics from the city’s public places, the fountain’s plumbing has been re-engineered by the BMC and tested over the weekend. The structure is likely to be reinstalled at its original location early next year, perhaps even January, and will be the second of its kind to be made operational in recent months. Flora Fountain in Fort, after a lengthy restoration process, was inaugurated in January this year.

“Our tests were a success. Water flowed out from four fountain heads and two lion heads,” said a BMC official jubilantly. “We think water from Fitzgerald Fountain’s lion heads was probably used by passersby as a pyau to quench their thirst, but we can’t verify this as there are no official documents.” During the British era, pyaus were found along tram routes—one used to run near Metro Cinema—the reason being that piped water systems were otherwise not available at public spaces. The lack of original documents about the fountain has all along been a challenge in its restoration. The plumbing bit was the biggest challenge. On Monday morning, TOI visited the yard of Bhau Daji Lad Museum at Byculla zoo, where the fountain’s restoration began last September. Sculptor Deepak Paunikar, who also worked on the restoration of the so-called Khada Parsi statue at Byculla, said, “Much of the work on the fountain till now concerned aspects other than the most fundamental — plumbing. Work on this aspect was started only a fortnight ago. We had no references as to how the water engineering system worked in the past. When the fountain was brought to the museum premises decades ago after being dismantled, it was without water pipes. Therefore, we had to use our own judgment to ensure that the fountain was made operational once again.”

Now, the structure has been fitted from inside with four galvanized iron pipes, which have been connected to the fountain’s spouts.

To ensure circulation of the same water—to be changed periodically—a suction pump-cum-tank system will be placed on site. The 40-ft fountain would require about 800 litres of water for it to work, said an official.

“Fitzgerald Fountain, erected in 1867, is integral to the city’s history. It had 300 missing parts, which we fixed after referring to all old photographs available with us. Since it weighs about 18 tons in all, we will transport it to its original location in parts,” said an official. “We will try to reinstall it in January.”