Abandoning the plan to build an additional tank with a 90 million litre capacity to reconstruct the 144-year-old Malabar Hill reservoir in phases, the BMC’s hydraulic study suggested that the new reservoir can be reduced to 34 million litres to repair the reservoir. The smaller reservoir will occupy less space and ultimately require fewer trees to be cut down. The earlier plan had required the removal of over 389 trees.

The issue of reconstructing old reservoirs and building additional ones has been ongoing for over a year. After a protest by residents last year, followed by expert panel visits, two different reports, and a final report by IIT Roorkee suggested various ways to reconstruct or repair the reservoir. It is now almost clear that the BMC has opted to repair the reservoir in phases, which requires an additional tank, instead of reconstructing the entire British-era structure.