HANGING GARDENS: A DISGUISED PROTECTOR OF OUR LANDS

Bushes carved in shapes? That is something we normally hear about from other countries. But guess what, Mumbai has its own such garden, a natural heritage, resting above a reservoir constructed on Malabar Hill in the 1880s, the ‘Hanging Gardens’.

STORY BEHIND ITS NAME:
The Hanging Gardens’ (of Babylon) name is derived from the Greek word κρεμαστός (kremastós, lit. ‘overhanging’), which has a broader meaning than the modern English word “hanging” and refers to trees being planted on a raised structure such a terrace. They provide sunset views over the Arabian Sea and feature numerous hedges carved into the shapes of animals. Since the garden is built on the sloping hill, also known as a terrace garden, it has give the name of Hanging Gardens.

UNKNOWN PURPOSE OF GARDEN:
The garden provides a stunning sunset view over the Arabian Sea. With its well-maintained jogging paths, the garden is a popular spot for both locals and tourists. The park was designed and laid out in 1881 over Mumbai’s (originally known as Bombay till November of 1995) main reservoir. It protects the city’s drinking water in the reservoir from the potentially contaminating activity of the nearby Towers of Silence (a funerary tower where the Parsis or Zoroastrians left the dead bodies of their community members for excarnation as per their tradition).

DESIGN:
The park features a variety of intricately carved hedges in the shape of miscellaneous animals and lush green vegetation. When you observe the garden from air, the pathways will spell out the letters PMG in cursive, because these gardens are also called Pherozeshah Mehta Gardens (dedicated to Pherozeshah Mehta).

NEIGHBOURS:
The Kamala Nehru Park lies adjacent to the Hanging Gardens, hosting another popular attraction, the “Old Women’s Shoe”, also commonly known as the “Mhataricha Boot”. The structure of this shoe was inspired by the nursery rhyme, ‘There was an old women who lived in a shoe’. It was built in 1952, covering an area of 4000 square yards, overlooking the magnificent Marine Drive. Named after the wife of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, it is full of towering trees and bright, colourful flowering shrubs.

DANGER:
The Malabar Hill Water Reservoir Project (led by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation – BMC) aims to construct a new 91-million litre (per day) water tank near the garden while also enhancing the existing, old, 147-million reservoir under the garden. They aim to do this in order to prevent water shortages in South Mumbai. The residents of the area are concerned about the environmental impact of this project; as well as the reality that the public garden will be shut for 7 years, as the ecosystem is already fragile, after the 2 supposed landslides in 2020 on Malabar Hill.