Stone tower: Lone remnant of a bygone era

PUNE: The stone tower looks a bit out of place today, standing alone outside a chic shopping plaza on the Pune-Mumbai highway. It once marked the boundary of philanthropist, Sir J. Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney's sprawling River Ridge estate and announced to travellers that they had reached the quaint historic precincts of the city. The tower is now at the centre of a debate, following the massive demolition drive carried out on Monday by the Pune municipal corporation (PMC) to push back illegal slums in its vicinity.Fortunately, the PMC's heritage advisory committee ruled against the demolition of the tower. But a debate is now underway about whether to shift it or modify it for public use. Today, large parts of the estate, save the regal mansion at the centre, have gone towards road-widening, a public park, a housing high-rise and the shopping complex. But the tower stands majestically, making those who took it for granted for all these years, notice it and marvel at it. "It contains a three-step water tank, which used to service the entire estate gardens. It can store thousands of litres of water. To begin with, they used a steam engine to pump water from the river into the tank. Today, all the piping leading to and from the tower is gone," reveals P.T. Kokate, a third generation estate manager with the Jehangir family. Sujit Patwardhan, a member of the PMC's heritage committee, asserts, "We have rejected outright the proposal to demolish the tower. Firstly, we believe widening roads solves no problems. Also, we are totally opposed to destruction of beautiful things like trees and historic structures for the purpose." There is, however, a discussion within the PMC to shift the structure or create an archway within the tower to facilitate pedestrian movement. Presently, it may not totally obstruct vehicle traffic, but it stands in the way of pedestrian movement of the widened highway. "Both the shifting and archway options are physically possible, but shifting would be terribly expensive. Demolition would be tragic; it is such a beautiful structure," said conservation architect Kiran Kalamdani, adding that it could cost up to Rs 2,500 per square foot to shift. Heritage committee member and city-based architect Narendra Dengale, who shifted an entire fountain at the estate piece-by-piece, was out of town. Asked what the Jehangir family feels about the tower, Kokate said, "Now it is in the hands of the PMC."