if you love selfies heres another spot on the mumbai landscape to get your camera out and pose in the gushing portland stone flora fountain which has found its way into countless bollywood movies and books is set to be unveiled around diwali its been a long while since the fountain went into restoration efforts and now we learn that the landmark and its area will also be revamped with more hardscape and paving on the lines of trafalgar square in london affirms conservation architect vikas dilawari yes mumbaikars should see the fountain in all its glory by november while the main part of the work is almost wrapped up the plaza work is on in full swing its going to be a beautiful public area we have tried to create a paved space typical of city squares across the world so people can meet and sit there just like how you have trafalgar square in the heart of london heres moreit saw weathering due to saline winds humidity and pollution lr the ornamental cast iron lamps have been refurbished the stone which was painstakingly cleaned lr the ornamental cast iron lamps have been refurbished the stone which was painstakingly cleaned nilabh sinha of intach indian national trust for art and cultural heritage who has spearheaded the conservators team working on the fountain says this is a beautiful landmark you wont find many such examples in india the stone and other things had come from uk at that point of time the deterioration of the fountain over time have been attributed to many factors he explains it is close to the sea and saw weathering due to saline winds thermal expansion and contraction took place due to humidity and heat levels staining due to bird droppings human misuse and pollution were other reasons it had multiple layers of white washing and we identified the best method to remove the layers and present the fountain in the way it was originally built we started from the top and fixed joints and cracks the water flow management was also cleared so its been a combined effort all this has taken time but we are hopefully at the end of the process he adds mumbai must value such heritage landmarks we should preserve our heritage spaces irrespective of who built itadds sanjay sawant executive engineer of heritage cell mcgm municipal corporation of greater mumbai there are just finishing touches left on the fountain as the restoration is done it was extensive work and the plumbing is also completely newdid you knowthe flora fountain project is in two phases one which deals with the monument and other with its surrounding part a was to restore the fountains water engineering carefully clean the layers of paints refix the missing parts like arms hands etc and missing details based on evidences the water trough was also made watertight and treated with marble the work is to be completed by november with the final handover