GILBERT HILL: A GIFT OF NATURE 

A 66 million year old, colossal rock is home in our very own city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the three exclusive volcanic rocks on this planet and must be protected for its worth.

AGE OF THE ROCK:
The Mesozoic Era, which can be translated to ‘middle life’ was 252-66 million years ago, and was the time of the dinosaurs. During that era, molten lava was spread across over 50,000 square kilometres (19,000 sq. mi) in India, in the states of Maharashtra, Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh. Towards the end of this era, molten lava was squeezed out of Earth’s clefts, openings in the ground, forming large rocks. Today, we know one of these large rocks by name of Gilbert Hill in the suburb Andheri in Mumbai. This indicates that this hill is much older than humans, who only came into existence 13 million years ago.

ONE OF THREE IN THE WORLD:
This rock is one of the three unique geographical structures all over the world, the other tow being in the United States; ‘Devils Postpile National Monument’ in California and ‘Devil’s Tower National Monument’ in Wyoming. These are the planet’s three volcanic rocks. The other two in the United States are conserved and are under protection, as we should do with this precious gift of nature present in our lands.

STATUS:
In 1952, the Central Government declared Gillbert Hill as national park under the Indian Forest Act of 1927; it reserves areas having forest cover or significant amount of wildlife, regulating the transit of forest produce. It was finally considered a Grade II heritage site in 2007 by the MCMG (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai), after years of lobbying and hard work by geologists.

NATURAL DESIGN:
It is a 200 feet (61 m) monolith column of black basalt rock. Atop this humongous rock are two Hindu temples; the Gaondevi and Durgamata Mandirs. They are set in a small garden accessible by a steep staircase that is naturally carved into the rock.

DANGER:
Continuous construction in nearby proximity to the hill has resulted in damage to the structure and deterioration of its base. These construction activities combined with drastic, irregular rainfall has contributed to rockfalls and other naturally disastrous events that have led to loss of wildlife around and human lives. According to folklore, the area surrounding the hill used to be filled with dense forest, which has been lost over the years. Instead, now all that one can see around it is buildings and slums.