2 weeks ago

Rescued Portuguese bastion in Mumbai now faces weed and decay

In a big city called Mumbai, there is a very old stone lookout called a bastion.

For many years, it was hidden under rubbish, weeds, and trees.

People who live nearby cleaned it up because it looked important.

A history expert helped them learn that it was built by the Portuguese about 400 years ago.

The bastion was used to watch the sea and protect the city from enemy ships.

Later, the British used it too and even made it stronger.

The old fort has special holes for guns and a place to store water.

Some grown-ups want the government to make it a protected monument.

But the paperwork is slow, and weeds are already growing back on the old fort.

Key facts

Age: Around 400 years old (Portuguese period, 16th-17th century)
Location: Wadala, Mumbai, along the Eastern Freeway overlooking Mahul creek
Construction: Random-rubble masonry with lime-sand mortar
Features: Circular bastion with octagonal projections, gun holes, gun slits, and a rectangular water storage structure
Historical name of Wadala: Varella, under Mahim Kasba
Later use: Reworked and used by the British in the 17th-18th century, with stone veneers
Maps: Marked in maps dated 1812, 1843, and 1885
Monument status: Proposal for state-protected monument notification pending; the process takes about a year

indianexpress.com · 2 weeks ago