We’ll drink to that! Century-old pyaus in zoo to get renovated

Mumbai Four century-old pyaus (drinking water fountains) inside the Byculla zoo are set to get a new lease of life soon, marking the completion of the first phase of the Mumbai Pyau Project.

In a bid to restore these century-old structures, the BMC had launched its Pyau Project in 2020. As part of this project, 21 such pyaus in different locations in the island city will be restored.

Pyaus are drinking water fountains that could be seen along the streets of Mumbai (then Bombay) during the 19th and 20th century. Unlike water taps, the Pyaus are like water spouts that would dispense water throughout the day.

The BMC, along with heritage architectural firm Vaastu Vidhaan, took up the restoration work of four pyaus inside Ranibaug in the first phase and the work is almost complete. The primary objective was to make all the pyaus operational while preserving its heritage outlook.

The origin of the Pyaus dates back to the latter half of the 19th century, when water pipelines were being placed in the island city. Rahul Chemburkar from Vaastu Vidhaan, who is the pioneer of the Pyau restoration project, says that there was a boom of water fountains in the island city after 1850s. “The pyaus are the products of philanthropy. People from various communities like Parsi, Gujarati, Koli and Agri made these pyaus in some of the busiest areas of city. These pyaus are also a symbol of oneness because people irrespective of their caste-creed and community, would come and drink water from them without any discrimination,” said Chemburkar. He said that it was after the 1960s that the pyaus started becoming dormant as water supply became more limited.

In 2010, Chemburkar saw a pyau near Bharat Mata Cinema getting demolished and it was this that pushed him to restore these structures. Chemburkar said that in a heritage list published in 1996, there were 28 listed pyaus in Mumbai. Chemburkar managed to track down 21 of them and submitted a report to the BMC.

The restoration process

Of the four pyaus inside the Ranibaug premises, two are named after Ardeshir Dadabhoy Dadysett, who donated them in 1912 and is located near the lion’s enclosure and Shivaji statue inside the garden. The third one from 1933 is named after Samaladas Nassidas and has been transformed into a modern-day cascade fountain, while the last one, built in 1903, is named after Khunji Mulki Randeria, and is located just outside the main entrance.

The pyaus are primarily built of Malad stone, limestone and basalt stone. Sanjay Samant, in charge of the civic heritage cell said that the average weight of each pyau would be around five tonnes. He also said that two pyaus had sunk under the ground by a meter and had to be pulled out. “Pulling out the pyaus from under the ground was a challenge. We used cranes and had to ensure that the remaining parts don’t get damaged,” said Sawant.

After the pyaus were pulled out, the surface was cleaned to bring out the details. “There were several hidden elements on these structures that we need to bring out,” he said. At present all the four pyaus have been restored to make them operational. Vintage styled water taps have been fitted on the trough to dispense drinking water.

What lies ahead

Sawant says that the next objective is to restore the remaining 17 pyaus of Mumbai and to create a Pyau trail in the future. He said that besides restoring the dilapidated pyaus, the heritage cell is also making effort to track down locations where such pyaus existed earlier and are now missing.

Chemburkar says that he hopes that by 2025 all the dormant pyaus of Mumbai will become functional again. Information tablets with QR codes will also be set up near the pyaus so that people can learn about the lost history of these fountains, added Chemburkar.